Jotting & Plotting

As a writer, I would probably describe myself as a jotter and plotter. I map out a story in my head and then over the course of time, I am constantly jotting down ideas and  tidbits of details to fill in the blanks. Like most writers, inspiration is found everywhere: life experiences, music, other writers, a nature walk or the humdrum of everyday life. In the case of my first children’s book, it was a simple curiosity while doing laundry one day. I was fascinated about the calculus of the situation of missing socks and began pondering if the socks were really missing or just stuck literally in a black hole somewhere. I started supposing where these socks could be. But then I began to wonder as though I were an adventurous child and I started jotting down ideas. Soon it was a farcical adventure of a mate-less sock on a journey to find her mate, but in the end, a tale of self-discovery.

As I plotted the story out, I had a beginning and an ending, but struggled quite a bit getting a succinct arch of the story to fill in the middle. My writing class was quite critical, and I became discouraged, so I put it away for over a year. After several major life events, I pulled it out and started jotting and plotting again and for whatever reason, it flowed. For many years, I had always been someone who journaled as a way of navigating challenges in my life. I was struck by the common root of the words journal and journey. It was just what I needed to complete a labor of love.

It is also possible that when I started writing again it was at a point when I was re-defining myself and it propelled my writing. I identified with the main character, Ruby, in her search for her place as an individual and how in losing her mate, she may have felt unmoored. As I was considering retiring or yet another iteration of myself, Ruby's redefining herself, discovering she still has purpose, resonated with me.

I am extremely excited about this third iteration of myself. Dipping my toes into the teeming waters of children's literature was a labor of love, with a very steep learning curve, motivated by the desire to bring back a sense of wonderment and engender the love of reading. I am immensely proud to announce my first children's storybook: The Adventures of the Bureau of the Missing Socks, ideal for 5-9 year olds. The audio version is perfect as a read-along for a new reader!