For the sake of the story.

There have been times when I am writing that I will get to a point where I can't go on. It leaves me feeling that I have written myself into a corner. In one instance I had to delete an entire chapter, that was the hardest thing I'd ever done but in the end it opened a new path that I would never have considered. There have also been times when I had to kill a character to benefit the story. He or she had served their purpose, now it was time for them to go.
Sometimes I will write some thoughts down in a notebook and will later type it up. I have always found that the story strays from what I had written down earlier, so I have come to rely upon it as a starting point when I sit in front of my comuter. I guess that as long as it works, I'll trust that It will keep the stories flowing.

Family and friend support

After I sent my book to the publisher and was accepted I had the daunting task of editing it. That was where my friends came in. They helped with some spelling errors and grammar corrections. Then came time for the cover for the book, all three of my sisters sent submissions. I am blessed to have such support.

Bedtime Stories: Original artwork

Bedtime Stories: Original artwork

How I got my idea.

It's hard to believe but it's been almost two years since I wrote my first book. It all started with a family reunion. My sister, Kathy wanted all of us to do something special for our get together.
Kathy gave each of us an assignment, mine was to write down some of the stories mom used to tell us, they had made such an impression on all of us, we all had our favorites. I took to putting together the ones that had made the biggest impact on me, before I knew it, I had four stories written.
The title for each was inspired by the way mom told every story.
I began with, "The Covered Bridge" That story was the one that had made the biggest impression on me, once I had that one done, the rest fell into place. The oddest thing was that as I was typing at my computer, working into the night, I could almost feel the presence of my mother, as though she were refreshing my memory for the accuracy of each story. It wasn't until later that I learned that each of my siblings remembered all of the stories in different subtle ways, I guess mom wasn't really there with me in spirit but the feeling that she was helped me to get into the spirit, so to speak.
If you have an idea, write it down. You never know but that it might get published.