Having people who believe in you is SO important, no matter what your situation is. I have been blessed to have people in my life who believe in me for a very long time. My mother-in-law helped me hone my craft as a storyteller. My father-in-law was one of several people who have helped me find my medium in art - drawing. My mother never hesitates to proofread anything I send to her. But it was my own dad who put the possibility of being an author in my head.
Many years ago, I had returned to school to refresh my teaching skills. I had been out of the classroom for five years, and I knew it was needed. Over the course of my studies, I had a Language Arts instructor who had us create a papier-mache dinosaur. After making this sculpture, we were to write a story about it. Coincidentally, my parents had come for a visit just before I turned in the finished manuscript. My dad thumbed through the manuscript and set his mind to the fact that I would become a famous author someday. He even went so far as to sign me up for a professional writers' group. Many rejection letters later, I decided that Dad was wonderful to believe in me, but it wasn't meant to happen.
Fast forward to 2014 - my dad passed away and we were all gathered for his funeral. My cousin, the talented illustrator and artist Ted Irvine, asked me why I had never published my stories. I told him of the stack of rejection letters, and he directed me to a self-publishing website that did not charge huge amounts of money up front to produce a book. So, in honor of my dad, I dug through the old manuscripts and chose the one that had gotten him so excited. I polished it up, redid the illustrations, and held my breath. And the first story, Delbert's New Glasses was published six months after that conversation with my cousin.
Finishing the first book started a fire in my heart. I knew that I had more stories to tell. With the support and encouragement of family and friends, I have continued telling them. Calling myself an author has taken getting used to. There have been so many 'firsts' that I had no clue about, like the first time a teacher asked me to speak to her class. The first time a student ran up to me on the playground and asked me if I was really an author, I had to turn around and see who he was talking to. In the summer of 2018, I started promoting my books at a local farmers market. It was there that I finally became comfortable introducing myself as a children's author and illustrator. Then in the spring of 2019, I formed BP's Bookshelf to start treating my writing and drawing with the professionalism it deserved. And thanks to the roller coaster that 2020 has been, I built my website and opened my online store. Since that first book came out, I have produced six more, all with my family cheering me on and helping along the way. I still have so much to learn, but now I look at each first experience with the open mind of a storyteller who will never stop telling stories.
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