Stepping Into The Unknown
An author friend of mine called out of the blue one day and asked me to read a little story he had written and that he wanted to turn into a children's book for Christmas. I said sure and that I would read it to all the Wammyville Yahoos and get back to him with their feedback/ suggestions/questions/comments....
Then he shocked me by asking if I could paint or do some illustrations! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS did I see that coming! He has a very artistically, crazy talented daughter! I said I would give it a try, and I must have sketched and painted 10 mice before we decided on one. This pic is the shot of the one that he chose, but we tweaked it a bit along the way.
Little Sedgwich began to develop a personality. His tail is a capital S.
He has a very small, little tattoo. Can you find it?
Then came the cover! I tried and tried to figure something out. Again, millions of miles out of my zone. Again, Greg would make suggestions, and I would try to honor them. I looked a pictures of workshops, barns, Christmas trees...
Knowing there was a deadline and I hadn't even come close to finishing something that we both thought would work, I would get up at 2AM to paint. I developed a very bad case of fever blisters on the inside of my bottom lip. I was a wreck. Then one night, when I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish, I had a chat with God and told him that I was doing the best I could do and I needed some peace about it. I needed to stop stressing over it. Just paint like I paint and try not to make it perfect. That morning, after about 2 hours of sleep, I felt a peace start at the top of my head and move all the way to my toes. I worked a little that day and finished. I called Greg and he and his wife, Jan, came a picked up every piece of artwork I had.
Then Jordan, Greg's son, did his magic and put it in book form. From that moment on, I felt like I was waiting for a due date...giving birth takes a long time! Greg sent me a pic of the front cover and the back cover.
I would check Amazon every day to see if there was any progress. The most amazing thing...I found that if I typed my name into the Amazon search bar, magically our book would appear! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS DID I EXPECT THAT!
Then the day came when I could order my copy! I ordered it and waited and waited again! One morning, I got a notification from Amazon that my order was on its way. I sat on the porch and waited for my Amazon guy to come. Don't you know that when I went to the back yard to check on the dogs, he came!
I couldn't wait to go inside. I ripped into that package as fast as I could. I might have cried some ugly tears when I saw it. A lot!
And here it is!
The best part so far...Last night, Sam and Mia Facetimed me, and we examined the cover, the pages, and even the section about the illustrator in the back of the book. They smiled as big as their eyes got when they read their names in the book!
All of this is great, but what touches my heart even more. Greg said that I got to choose where a 10% royalty goes. Without hesitation, I said Whiz Kids. So every once in a while, a check will be sent to Eastside for our Whiz Kids. This makes me extremely happy.
Thank you to all the people who have had to listen to me, who have ordered the book, sent me positive comments, and written recommendations on Amazon. You are my people!
I appreciate it more than you will ever know!
And I'd like to thank Greg for giving me a shot at something that challenged me in so many ways.
Here's the link...
Sedgwick, Santa's Secret Mouse: Why Santa Doesn't Need A Chimney
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