Getting Started
That's a bit of a misnomer since I started scribbling, writing when I was 11 years old. But here I am now, with my first website and two books. Really just starting. How did that happen? I have to blame my sister, Patty Van Dyke. But in a good way. I had been dinking around with a longer version of the Natalia and the Monarch Rangers story for several years. Working on it in fits and starts. Not really going anywhere. During the pandemic Patty called me and said, "Hey! Lets put together an illustrated children's book. You can pull out the text from the story you've been working on and I can do the illustrations!" I knew she could do the illustrations - she's been an artist, art therapist, and art teacher for years. Could I simplify my long, convoluted, unfinished story into something shorter and simpler? We gave it a try, really enjoyed working on it together, and came up with an end result, Natalia and the Monarch Rangers, that we're pleased with. So, major thanks to Patty for giving me a push!
I'm still picky and usually over-edit my writing but I'm now more interested and confident in moving on. The poetry collection was pretty straightforward to put together. I'd already written the poems, just had to collect them. I could have gone back, reviewed each one and made some editorial changes but decided it was better to just put them out there as written. And I'm happy with the Ripples in the River collection.
What's next, now that I've finally started?
That's a bit of a misnomer since I started scribbling, writing when I was 11 years old. But here I am now, with my first website and two books. Really just starting. How did that happen? I have to blame my sister, Patty Van Dyke. But in a good way. I had been dinking around with a longer version of the Natalia and the Monarch Rangers story for several years. Working on it in fits and starts. Not really going anywhere. During the pandemic Patty called me and said, "Hey! Lets put together an illustrated children's book. You can pull out the text from the story you've been working on and I can do the illustrations!" I knew she could do the illustrations - she's been an artist, art therapist, and art teacher for years. Could I simplify my long, convoluted, unfinished story into something shorter and simpler? We gave it a try, really enjoyed working on it together, and came up with an end result, Natalia and the Monarch Rangers, that we're pleased with. So, major thanks to Patty for giving me a push!
I'm still picky and usually over-edit my writing but I'm now more interested and confident in moving on. The poetry collection was pretty straightforward to put together. I'd already written the poems, just had to collect them. I could have gone back, reviewed each one and made some editorial changes but decided it was better to just put them out there as written. And I'm happy with the Ripples in the River collection.
What's next, now that I've finally started?