I have a book!

Ok, ok, ok. Don't get too excited. But about six weeks ago, I was walking around the valley with Fairy Godmother and we were talking about her work. What keeps her going, what "brings me to my knees" she said, were the struggling moms, the depressed mom and their kids. It just gets her-she wants to build a community for these women, a safe place filled with resources and people that will be a place for them to go when the big waves hit. So...she wondered out loud to me ( how convenient) if there was a book out there for kids about living with a parent who is suffering from depression. Hmm....Two weeks after that, my sister-in-law asked if I could write a children's book. "No!" was my immediate response. I have access to Wiki-pedia like everyone else and after the fascinating turns through arachnids, dinosours, and all marine life I am confindent I could cut and paste myway through some mean non-fiction. But why? I wouldn't want to read it. I already have. As for fiction, well, how daunting! The best of the best has already been written and ...nothing has occurred to me as of yet. So...three weeks after this, I am lying in a bed in Madison, Wi and I can sleep in. Bob is off to a conference and I am on my own. I want to sleep. But at 6:30 a.m. I get this line in my head and it won't go away so I mutter, "Screw it!" to myself and pull out the lap top and two hours later I have the rough draft of a book.

I have shared this book with a few people including my Fairy Godmother. She genuinely loves it. One (my husband) said it was kind of a downer. Hmm.... depression really rocks! Seriously, he's a light-hearted guy and you know, emotions beyond "Cool!" are troubling so I let that go. He gave me some good tips on language that might be too strong for little ones ( you can tell I have trouble editing in my own life- at least my kids have a good vocabulary!) and every person has the same vision I have for illustrations so... this is my quest. I am looking for an illustrater. If you have any ideas...let me know. Sister-in-law Leslie is an artist. Uncle Alan is an artist. I am sure there are lots of artists in my circle of whom I am not aware.

This whole thing led Fairy Godmother to introducing me as Lisa, her friend, the writer. Hmm...I like that.

Comments

  1. Hello! Artist idea: Remember when Anne was living in Minoqua and she made friendss with this AMAZING artist, Peggy Grinvalsky? Peggy was super cool and had unreal work. Also, she has done pictures for children's books before. For instance, we all bought a copy of "A Butterfly's Teeth" when we were visitng. She did the art for it (Author: Albert Lampo Jr.). She'd be an awesome person to check out?
    ~ Ali

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