Guest Post
What Inspired me to Start Writing
When I was still a new writer, an old critique partner of mine used to say that if you didn’t write every day, you couldn’t call yourself a writer. That used to bother me. Especially because at the time, I was right in the middle of raising 4 small children with a husband going through law school and working a full-time job. We weren’t just busy. We were drowning! Childrearing was not only relentless, demanding, and exhausting work. It left me feeling like I had no identity.
Up to that point, my
writing consisted of me jotting down my family’s adventures and life details in
our family journal. But one night, I was sitting in the dark, rocking a sick
baby in my arms, when I had an idea... I know I was sleep deprived, because the
very next morning I signed up for a Creative Writing class.
A couple of months prior,
I lost my mom to cancer. She was only 56 years old. I was 34. In my grieving, I
kept thinking that if I were to die at her age, I only had about 21 years to
accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish in life. So, signing up for that
class marked the beginning of my quest to accomplish that goal. That was in
March of 2011.
But it wasn’t until 2014
that I became serious about writing and joined SCBWI, and I’ve been writing
since. I started with a middle-grade novel, and Lulu and the Missing Tooth
Fairy was the first picture book I ever wrote – although the original story is
NOTHING like the story it is today!
I love that my manuscripts
wait for me when I’m busy, depressed, or blocked. And they’re always there for
when I’m ready, or have a great new idea, or it’s time to revise. Now that my
kids are older, I still don’t have as much time to write as I’d like. Instead
of changing dirty diapers or keeping their fingers from electrical outlets, I’m
their full-time chauffer and their therapist. But now, when I get an idea for a
new story or figure out how to fix a plot hole, I can lock myself away without
worrying about them swinging from the chandeliers.
So, I don’t write every
day. But even if I don’t have pen to paper or fingers tapping away at the
keyboard, I think about my stories all the time, and my characters are still
interacting in my subconscious. In my mind, that very much counts as writing,
and I call myself a writer. Actually…no. I call myself an author.
My Review
Lulu and the Missing Tooth Fairy is a cute children's book about a little girl named Lulu. Lulu has a wiggly tooth, and she's super excited to lose it. Once she does, she knows the tooth fairy will come and bring her money so she can get a pony. That's all she really wants.
Trixie is a fairy on a mission to become an official tooth fairy and establish herself in the world.
Unfortunately for Lulu, once her tooth falls out, Trixie doesn't show up. Did the tooth fairy forget about her?
Unfortunately for Trixie, she's a little mixed up and ends up in the wrong location. Will she ever find her way to Lulu's house?
This is a fun, easy-to-read story that shows kids that dreams can come true with patience and hard work. And maybe a little bit of magic, too. Never stop dreaming. Never stop believing.
The illustrations are wonderful, and I enjoyed the little bit of trivia there about what tooth collectors are called around the world. That was a nice touch.
5 stars!
LULU AND THE MISSING TOOTHFAIRY Book Tour Giveaway
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