my "ah ha!" moment

I had a revelation last night while I was laying on the couch. All weekend I have been wrecking my brain trying to figure out how I wanted to approach my childrens book. Sooo many ideas were floating around up there with no idea how to get them out.

I guess you could say I had a case of writers block. I kept getting hung up on the fact that I have to write on an age specific level and I wasn't staying consistant with my language. One minute the language would be very simple, and the next minute I would forget and start talking like a "grown up". Verry confusing.

So I scratched my first draft. I wasn't feeling it... but that was over a month ago. Now here I am still at square one (with the exception of having my main character illustrated) still confused. I know the look im going for in my books I know the message I want to get across in my books... but I had no idea how go about it.

Until last night.

I realized I cant write about what I dont know about. I can write a million different scenarios about a million different people but if I havnt experience it in some way then how can I give an account of it? Unless I know what I'm talking about, my audience won't beleive me, or my charcters, or my plot.

Sooo then I thought what better experiences to draw from then my own! I have first hand knowlege of what its like to be a little kid... sometimes I still feel like one. All I have to do is go down memeory lane and put myself back in that second grade classroom and remember what it was like.

Now im excited! This is something I have wanted to do for a loong time and now I finally have some direction. This project means a lot to me and this is just begining. I can tell Im going to enjoy this process. Working on the first book of my series finally! This is huge!

Here is a sneak peak at what I've been working on...

Her name is Jondi... she is 7 years old. She is the vision for my main character.

I like that she is sooo unique. She doesnt look like anybody Ive ever seen. Some may call her weird, the other kids may make fun of her crazy bright red hair, or the freckels that cover her face, or even her weird mix matched clothes. But she is beautiful, unique, and one of a kind. And that's the message I want to send out to the little girls that read my books, that they are beautiful, unique, and one of a kind!!

Staaaaaay tuned!!