A little like Schrodinger's Cat - although you may not have heard from me for a while, I'm always here!
I have been a busy bee, with many things happening over the past couple of months.
After a wonderfully relaxing Christmas and New Year between Scotland to Northern Ireland visiting family and friends, January kickstarted 2023 with the incredibly humbling news that both my self-published books had been accepted to The Book Dragon, Stockton-on-Tees. This is a dedicated bookshop for self-published and independent authors from around the world. A brilliantly creative idea, that has since won its own awards and notice for its ingenuity and unique business plan. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have my works on the shelf for children to purchase.
The first part of the year also saw the progression of my third book - Meeting Pip - with the illustrations being completed and layouts being prepared. It is so exciting, as this book is going through a publishing house, which is a different process altogether from self-publishing. It is demanding patience, and acceptance on my part, waiting on a message with another 't' crossed and 'i' dotted. Every step is progressing in the right direction and I hope that by the end of March, it will be out for print and ordering through various outlets.
I had a personal transformation this month also, as did my son, having read books that we had never picked up before. It is an incredible reminder of how a book can not only transport you to another world but also affect you in a deeply emotional and spiritual way.
My son had an interesting, albeit initially traumatic experience, as I read him The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams. He is an adorably understanding and aware soul, conscious of how life affects others. He has always said that his beloved tiger is real, but how he would like him to come alive. So, with his treasured toy held close (and tighter as we read further into the story), I was expecting some empathy, but not to the degree that transpired.
Partway through the story, his eyes filled with tears as he held his cherished tiger so tightly I thought it might suffocate. The thought of The Velveteen Rabbit being put in a bag and left for burning was all too much. He stopped me reading with the comment, through watery eyes, "Mum? I feel so bad for all the toys in the box in my wardrobe."
After we finished the book, my heart breaking, and consoling him in my arms I said, "you understand that it is a happy story in the end, don't you, because the rabbit becomes alive and is free?"
"Yes" came the mumbled reply. However, the longer he lay in bed, the more he thought, the less he settled, and the tighter he held his tiger.
Luckily for us, we have a sofa bed in his room, so I slowly - one at a time - removed each toy from the plastic storage box in his wardrobe and placed it gently on the sofabed as my son reminded me of their names. This was the desired medicine, which reminded us both that every toy is special and each one has a memory and realism in a child's life. The toys are sitting there still and he informed me this evening that he likes them there "so that they can walk around the house freely when we are not looking."
A thought that I love to believe myself - and why not?! It is such a pleasure to see the world through a child's eyes. To believe what they believe, and to get drawn into their world and the importance of everything in it.
My transformation came after a book called Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach, was recommended. I have since read and listened on audible to the book another three times. Each time more enlightening than the last. A classic story 'celebrating that strength of the individual and the joy of finding your own way'.
With some books, you just read the words on the page, the story is the story - in this case as though discussing life and death - and in other instances, the words also speak to you, with a hidden meaning. Jonathan Livingston Seagull did this for me. It spoke to me in ways that no other book has ever done.
I recently prepared a social media post asking "what is your favourite book?" and the more I think about it, the more I think that this is right up there near the top of my adult favourites.
Throughout my life, I have always believed that everything happens for a reason - good or bad - and discovering this book confirmed that you are meant to find things - or things are meant to find you - when you are ready for them. Not a minute before and not a minute too late.
So, January and February, for me have been a wonderful, fun, exciting, and enlightening start to 2023 and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings.
I hope that your year has started as brightly and I look forward to updating you and messaging again soon. Perhaps you would like to join in the conversation and let me know your favourite story that has stuck with you?
Thank you for reading.
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A sneaky preview of Meeting Pip:
Do you believe in the tooth fairy?
Harris doesn’t believe in fairies but when his older sister sees something new on the Oaktree, she sets out to prove that they are real. Only then do the fun conversations begin with Pip and the children begin to see the world in a whole new way.
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*Black & White Cat in brown box image courtesy of Luku Muffin on Unsplash
*Rabbit image courtesy of Gary Bendig on Unsplash
*Seagull image courtesy of Maria Maliy on Unsplash
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