Climb, Soar, Swim, Explore! The story behind the story.

My husband Ted has been working on a book for a couple of years now. One day as we were talking about HIS book, he mentioned that I should write a book. Unfortunately, my first answer was, “I can’t write a book.” (I’m finding this is a pattern with me, and not a good one!)

Nelson Mandela once said,

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

That sums up how I was feeling (and how I felt most of the way)

As I continued to think about it, I realized I COULD write a book – a Children’s Book! I’ve been reading children’s literature since I was a child. Because I’ve probably read a million children’s books by now, I can recognize the good ones, the bad ones – and the amazing ones that needs to be read over and over!!

Begin Writing

So… I started writing. I had lots of ideas and wrote some in a journal by hand, typed some on my computer, I even typed ideas into the “notes” section on my phone. Then…I finally had ideas that came together into a ‘story’ that might even work as my first BOOK!

From there, I started sharing it – I read it to my kids and asked for their feedback. I read it to my kid’s classes and asked for feedback. I sent it to friends and family and asked for their feedback. I tweaked and changed and edited until I was ready for the next step:

Finding an illustrator

I reached out to a ton of illustrators and most never returned my calls or emails. The ones who did respond said that they charge up to $20,000 per project. That was not realistic for me.

From there, I said, “God, if you want me to finish this project, you’ll need to help me find an illustrator. Bring the right person across my path.”

In August 2017, we had a neighborhood picnic and a face painter was there. His name was Cedric Taylor. He brought several illustrations with him of examples of what he could paint. His pictures were fun, happy, inviting, and just beautiful – exactly what I was looking for in my book! I wrote down his name and knew he was THE ONE!

I found out that he worked at a local art studio and showed up there one afternoon in early September. I gave Cedric a copy of my manuscript and asked if he would want to work with me.

He called me the next day and said that he would be willing to illustrate the book and already had sketches drawn! We met at 5:30 am at our local YMCA and when I saw the work he had done, I cried. I love how God gives each person gifts that are so different. Cedric’s drawings were incredible. I was amazed how he brought the story to life! We agreed on a price for his work and from there I focused on…

Finding a graphic artist

I happened to remember that one of my new friends in Colorado Springs is in charge of designing and publishing my favorite Bible studies. She uses amazon.com‘s Create Space to self-publish. I reached out to her to see if I could hire her as my book designer to help make this book a reality. She said YES!

So … between my writing, the beautiful illustrations by Cedric Taylor, the incredible design work of Kristall Willis and SO many others who gave ideas, edited, supported the Go Fund Me Page campaign … we have a PUBLISHED book!

This is a fictional story of the Egly boys climbing Pikes Peak and encountering the animals that actually live there. Children will enjoy this adventure story and learn some fun facts about Colorado Wildlife!