Welcome! I'm so glad you decided to drop in. Let's chat like two old friends over a cup of coffee and discuss our part in this great big world!
I'm still trying to figure it out! After 48 years, 2 boys, 24 years of teaching piano, and the arrival of a first granddaughter onto the scene, it would be assumed that I knew what I was doing. I'm taking it a day at a time.
Everyday tasks take up so much time it is easy to put things by the wayside that we want to do and always said we would do. What is that thing for me? As cliche as it sounds, I have wanted to be an author since third grade. The book is written. The illustrations are drawn. What next? Research.
I have spent years researching the publishing world, agents, query letters, book dummies, and so much more until I feel I know a lot of the agents on a personal basis and feel I should have earned a doctorate by now. Waiting for the timing to be right, editing and rewriting my manuscript until I'm no longer sure I made an improvement, and fear of another rejection letter held me at arm's length preventing me from hitting that submit button.
Then, in the blink of an eye, my inspiration to make a difference in at least one child's life with my book is reborn. Looking at my first grandchild, I imagined myself reading a story first written 20 years ago with her Daddy, my son, as the main character.
I woke up from my dream of publishing and decided to make it happen. The small cry of one baby girl woke me up. I will forever attribute this new call to action to her. So. I dedicate my first childrens' book to her, Kinsley Marie Patty. I love you, baby girl!