Starting at the Beginning

I made a promise to myself that I would start my blog in January of 2015. I may just make it by the skin of my teeth, as my mom used to say. I think its an admirable goal and I will try to meet it. It took me most of January to figure out if I was doing it right or if I had really messed it up. So if anyone sees a problem, be sure and let me know. I have discovered that Facebook users will not be able to click on my web site link, which is a bit unhandy.

When I began writing, it was the "little" things that inspired me. Little, such as my grandchildren. Those precious little tykes inspired me to tell stories to them in a fun way when they were little. And eventually, I was urged to began putting those stories into book form.

In 2005, I first started sending my manuscripts to publishers. I could have wallpapered my office with the form letters I received. Many authors understand what I am talking about. It wasn't until 2008 when I signed up for an all day class at the local community college that things began to change for me. The course was titled "Writing a Children's Picture Book." The instructor was author/publisher, Jean Tennent of Shapato Publishing. If we pre-paid for the class, we could send our manuscript by email to her and she would critique it following the class.

I thought this was perfect. I would get to find out what I was doing wrong. So I chose The Many Hats of Jeremiah Porter to send to her. My illustrator, Joan thought I should send that one because I don't think she thought it was any good. Imagine my surprise when Jean said she liked the book and would like to publish it.

The concept of this first book came from my oldest granddaughter when she was about 5 years old. She is 14 1/2 now! She was excited to give me an idea so I could "write a book and sell lots". She drea picture of hats stacked on top of each other. I liked the idea and my first book was born. It was published in 2010.

I have a total of three books published now. My Hot Air Balloon was published in 2014. One of my twin grandsons gave me that idea. He was about three of four at the time. His mom told me that "Joey would like to "go up in a hot air balloon, way up high, almost to the moon." He practically wrote it for me,! So I created the book. It was illustrated by a friend from church. Leigh had a wonderful, whimsical way of illustrating my story. And the unique thing about it is that she created a side story through her illustrations.

My third book was to be done this month. I believe it is at the printers at this writing. This one was actually inspired by my daughter. She began collecting penguins as a child and she still does, even in her adult years. So I decided I wanted to write something about a penguin. Before retiring in 2013 after 33 years, I had worked at a local hospital in a mental health outpatient clinic. Because of my work there and my previous time in the Pediatric Unit, I wanted to write something about a child's self esteem and to show God's Hand in their lives. Hence, The Littlest Penguin came about.

It's amazing what a wealth of ideas can emanate from those granchildren. Now that they are older, I am beginning to get ideas about chapter books for tweens. Like I said, my oldest is 14 1/2, the twin boys are 11, and my youngest is 5 1/2. They help me at my book signings and I enjoy that so much.

Other members of my family besides my grandkids and daughter have also inspired me. My mother is an excellant example. I wrote a novel and used all of my mom's qualities, including the quirky ones, to develop a character. I have not submitted it yet. Waiting for more editing and a cover.

Mom also inspired a poem I wrote called "Mama's Apron." This was published in Julian's Journal, a magazine out of Dubuque, Iowa. Then I wrote a short story, "Mama's Sewing Machine" that was included in an anthology, A Needle in a Haystack published by Jean Tennent of Shapato. www.shapatopublishing.com.

The secret is, wherever you look, you can find inspiration. You just need to open your eyes and let God use whatever you see.

So in answer to the question, "where do you get your ideas?" this is a partial answer.