Day Seven... I'm in HEAVEN!!

I can't believe it. I made it.

Day seven, and my last story is actually about our own little dog. His name is Sam, and he is a real soccer-fanatic dog. This story is called "Soccer Sam", and it's basically about how our little dog plays soccer with us.

I'm fully amazed with myself, though, because I did not think I'd be able to make it a full seven days doing just PB's. It's SO not me!

No pictures are drawn for this story...give me a break, I barely got off work! HOWEVER, I will have pictures pending.

Thanks for following me on this event. Give me five, y'all!

Day Six... How are tricks?

Nearly at the end of the writing flow, and I came up with another poem story. This one is aimed at VERY very little children, and explores the different colours of eyes.

Blue as a sky at cloudless noon, green as the grass in spring's first growing, brown as the dirt in the garden bed, grey as the sea when the sun is gone.

Aren't those purty? Each of these lines starts a new line for the poem. I wish I was a crack illustrator, so I could do all my own illustrations. I wonder how one goes about becoming a licensed artist, as well as an author?

Day Five... I'm still alive

Day five of the writing frenzy, and I'm still gamely going at it.

For this story, I really had nothing. NOTHING! It was quite a day for me. I was so busy and stressed at work I came home from lunch and de-stressed (a little) with a book. On the way home from work five hours later, dredging up ideas and hammering my mindless grey cells against the stony emptiness of my skull, I walked by a meadow that was rushing water, and thought, "What does a stream think as it streams along?"

Voila. A poem popped into my head. It started with the line:

"The stream goes dreaming, streaming, gleaming,"

followed by the rest of these lyrics:

"Through a meadow merrily,
And it dimples dappled ripples
Lost in rushing reverie."

What does a stream dream? Hopefully, this poem will enliven, one day!

Tomorrow's day six. Onward, upward, ever forward! (No picture accompanied this poem. I can't do water, yet.

Day Four... Stress gaLORE!

It's amazing to realise we're already four days into NaPiBoWriWee. For this story, my mind actually decided to take me down the NF aisle...rather to my surprise, since I couldn't see a NF PB that would impress children.

However, my effort came through. I call it "Alligator Bugs", and it's about baby ladybugs, who start their lives looking something like little black alligators with orange spots.

See that bug, crawling up that leaf? It looks nasty! It must be a mean bug. Squish it. Wait! Wait! Don't squish that bug, 'cause it's a baby ladybug! Really.

Since baby ladybugs eat and eat and eat so many of the bugs that are bad for plants and trees, it's important not to kill them. They are a farmer's friend. Love the alligator bugs, 'cause one day they'll become a beautiful ladybug, and ladybugs are lucky!

Day Three... wheeeee!

So, today is May third. I'm three days into NaPiBoWriWee, and I've got my third story all drafted in my head. Now, I just need to write it down!

This story is turning out to be more of a entirely picture book with intermittent sentences. The pictures are going to tell the story more than the actual words.

Little Sophie wants to find her mommy the best gift of all, that will tell her "I love you" more than anything else will. However, the little frog she gives mommy, and the mudpie, just aren't the best gifts. It takes Sophie a little while, but she finally manages to find mommy the best gift of all.

This one was actually a breeze to do. I had it all in my head, and I just had to write it down. That NEVER happens to mel

This story I actually started with pictures, first. I inserted some of the dialogue on the paper as I wrote. I think that's why it flowed so easily.

Day Two... Whew!

I got story number two drafted for NaPiBoWriWee. It's amazing, how one's mind feels like it shrinks when there is so little time to write in.

However, this is the basis for story number two.

The young fairies are going to be learning Nighttime Trickery Lessons, and little Bramble Fire-fairy has a secret. She is afraid of the dark.

Bramble needs to figure out some way to create a lantern that she can take out into the darkness with her, without revealing her existence to humans. In the end, she manages to get her pet fairyfly to light up, creating the first fire-fly. The fire-fly becomes her new night-light.

I'll keep you posted. This story was a doozy for me!

Day One... FUN! :-)

Hurray! So I got my first story drafted, and an illustration idea done for it. I'm so e'cited.

Sarah spends her day being someone else. Every time she goes in for a meal, her mommy calls her one thing when Sarah's being someone else. At the end of the day Sarah decides to be just Sarah, so she can get her goodnight kiss.

This is probably the first short-short story I've ever written. I had to think small, but at the same time I had to connect with how a child would view the world.

Thanks to my little sister Jacinta Elizabeth, who was the inspiration for this story. Thank you, Poodle!

The Night Before NaNoPiBoWriWee

So, this is the big day!...night!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of NaPiBoWriWee, a week where you write a picture book a day for seven straight days. I'm nervous, excited, and hoping my brain doesn't fry.

You can actually head on over to my links and check out Paula Yoo's site...she's the one hosting this. I'll be commenting on her blog during the week, and hopefully I keep up the good steam. Right? Right.

I'll keep you updated.