Dear Reader, thanks for beginning the journey to publication with Jubilee and me! Shall we start at the beginning?
A year before Life with Bobby and Bonnie was published, Jubilee and the Stinky Fish was already in my writing womb. My second book was already beginning to take seed before the first was published, I just didn't know it.
During back to school professional development that year, our principal said we were to have a block of time at least four days a week for our students to write. Honestly, I think I saw light bulbs above some of my colleagues' heads.
A year before Life with Bobby and Bonnie was published, Jubilee and the Stinky Fish was already in my writing womb. My second book was already beginning to take seed before the first was published, I just didn't know it.
During back to school professional development that year, our principal said we were to have a block of time at least four days a week for our students to write. Honestly, I think I saw light bulbs above some of my colleagues' heads.
Before we could start making mental lists of things we could get done while students wrote, she upped the ante. Not only were students to write, so were we!
I think I was the only one in the room doing the happy dance inside. Twenty or thirty minutes a day for uninterrupted writing? Woo-Hoo!
And that's how Jubilee began. While students were building up their writing stamina for state assessments (oh yeah, that's a great way to motivate kids to write!), I was writing a story for them.
(Okay, short rewind: after Annalyn was born, I wrote stories for her. Then I moved on to Bobby and Bonnie's stories. I love writing stories! I don't even know how many stories are in the cloud, on my hard drive, and/or in my head. Isn't technology awesome!)
Anyway, back to writing in class. The story I wrote for them was "Laban's Lost Shoes". Since my urban third graders had extremely small vocabularies, I wrote it with a LOT of descriptive language.
I think I was the only one in the room doing the happy dance inside. Twenty or thirty minutes a day for uninterrupted writing? Woo-Hoo!
And that's how Jubilee began. While students were building up their writing stamina for state assessments (oh yeah, that's a great way to motivate kids to write!), I was writing a story for them.
(Okay, short rewind: after Annalyn was born, I wrote stories for her. Then I moved on to Bobby and Bonnie's stories. I love writing stories! I don't even know how many stories are in the cloud, on my hard drive, and/or in my head. Isn't technology awesome!)
Anyway, back to writing in class. The story I wrote for them was "Laban's Lost Shoes". Since my urban third graders had extremely small vocabularies, I wrote it with a LOT of descriptive language.
At that time, I imagined my stories as stand alone books. Unfortunately, yours truly has never been gifted with drawing. I guess it really doesn't matter if the stories become individual books or compilations. The important thing is for kids to read about how much Jesus loves them.
I think you'll like "Laban's Lost Shoes" when you purchase your copy of Jubilee and the Stinky Fish. My students certainly did when I shared it with them at the end of the school year.
Dear Reader, do you have something in your writing womb? Maybe it's too small to see or name. Maybe delivery seems hard and far away. I'm a bit scared and uncertain, too.
Let's get our brave on with this encouragement by the Apostle Paul:
I think you'll like "Laban's Lost Shoes" when you purchase your copy of Jubilee and the Stinky Fish. My students certainly did when I shared it with them at the end of the school year.
Dear Reader, do you have something in your writing womb? Maybe it's too small to see or name. Maybe delivery seems hard and far away. I'm a bit scared and uncertain, too.
Let's get our brave on with this encouragement by the Apostle Paul:
Only, let every one lead the life which the Lord has assigned to him, and in which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
I Corinthians 7:17 RSV
Did you hear the bell ring, Dear Reader? Class is in session, and it's time for us to get to work!
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