Today, Labor Day 2013, is the day I selected to celebrate the launch of my newest book, a children’s picture book…a beautiful children’s picture book, I must say so myself, When Christmas Feels Like Home.
The illustrator took the words I had painstakenly assembled about a homesick little boy, and through her artistic interpretation, added a whole new dimension to the story, taking it to heights I never imagined. What joy! Thank you, Carolina Farias, for giving the readers an Eduardo to remember and a puppy to love.
This book is so far on the literature spectrum from the narrative nonfiction, adult level Lessons Learned that you'd think there was no comparison. True, the process was different, but in both cases I was blessed with editors who focused on making the book at hand the best it could possibly be. Thank you Kelly Barrales-Saylor at Albert Whitman & Company. Your patience and persistence helped me turn this manuscript into a reality far beyond my original concept.
One lesson I've learned from Lessons Learned and meeting readers, goes to the reality of putting a book out in the public. The writer has no control once the book is chiseled in stone. This is no baby I've birthed on Labor Day 2013. The birthing came months ago when the final revision was approved. This creature launching today is a teenager on the day he first gets the keys to the family car. It's driving solo now, and where it lands, in the hands of a homesick boy just like Eduardo, or under the couch, forgotten, waiting for the day someone remembers it and looks for grandma to read one more time, no matter the circumstance, I'm no longer in control.
Sounds exciting for Eduardo!
Catch of the day,
Gretchen
All the best, my friend.
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