I want to continue in this post to recognize other wonderful people who helped me achieve what I have been stretching towards for many, many years.

Leslea Newman, an author of substantial accomplishments, was invited a few years ago to come to Half Day school as an author in residence.  In the midst of her busy schedule of student assemblies and classroom visits, Leslea kindly allowed me to ask her for her opinion on my book.  In a matter of minutes, she pinpointed a potentially serious flaw in my story and advised me (in general terms) how to fix it.  Her help propelled me forward and allowed me to be prepared for the next surprise on my journey towards publication!

My brother Larry saw an open door that I would never have discovered, and gave me the means to walk through it.  His daughter, Taylor, was working for the publisher (Brandylane Publishers, Inc.) that eventually chose my book for publication.  Larry saw the possibility that Taylor's summer job presented, and made me aware of the potentially golden opportunity it offered.  His caring conscientious phone call began the series of events that eventually ended in a "Congratulations!" letter from my publisher.

My niece, Taylor, whom graciously became my own personal editor, helped me to prepare my book (and me) for publication.  She was a godsend (literally)!  Taylor spent many lengthy hours helping me sand off the rough edges of my initial manuscripts.  She then guided me through the complicated (to me!) process of submitting it.  There are MANY requirements that must be met to be published, and the book itself is just one of them. Taylor helped me get through the unfamiliar labyrinth of details and tie them all together in a nice tidy package.  When she felt I was ready to proceed, she walked my book into the publisher's office and left it there to stand or fall on it's own merits. With her help, it stood!  Thank you Taylor!

Continuing in my effort to recognize many of those whom have helped me get to this point in the publishing process, on whom I would like to focus some attention:

Susan Maas (the mom of Nick, who was at that time a Sprague School student) approached me with the idea of writing a book about what happens when the children go home after the school day ends.  That was the spark that inspired my book's genesis. Susan was thinking it would be a good idea if the school children learned how much work it took to clean the school after they left for the day.  She envisioned a book about janitors vacuuming, mopping, and emptying trash cans.  But her request ignited in me the idea to put to ink all the fun stories I had been telling children for years about elephants, alligators, birds, and ants creating havoc in the building when the children were not there.

Brod Bagert, an author in residence in April of 2006 at Sprague School, demonstrated to me what fun it could be to write children's books. 

Patty Lathrop, the librarian at Half Day school, convinced me that beginning a web site for my book was not as impossible as it first seemed to me.  You are now visiting it! (Thank you, Patty!)

Christy Adler, the principal at Laura B. Sprague school (where I worked for almost 20 years), actually sat down with me one evening for many hours and generously helped me create my original web site.  Her kindness left me speechless.  She is an incredible principal with a lot on her to-do list, but she took the time to help me launch this web site!

On my next blog entry, I will continue to honor the investment of as many people as I can remember for their contributions to the launching of my first book.

As I promised in the previous post, I would like to continue to pay homage to the wonderful people who made it possible for me to write, improve, and publish my children's book.

Chris Buczinsky,a complete stranger to me at the time, accompanied his brother to the school where I worked (Sprague School in Lincolnshire, Illinois) for a school assembly. Chris took the time later that day to give me constructive criticisms (that I asked for!) about my book.  Chris's bravery in giving it to me straight and pointing out the glaring flaws in the earliest version of my book helped me to go back to the drawing board and begin the long and tedious process of tweaking and improving my poetry and illustrations.  I am forever in his debt!

My daughter Rachelle then took up the baton.  She was an English major in college and is an outstanding writer herself.  Her red pen helped me recognize my early poetic inadequacies in maintaining stressed and unstressed accents in their proper placement, undetected (by me) grammatical mistakes, and other poetry trip ups.

My daughter Becky spent many, many hours putting color to the first illustrations of my book.  It was those illustrations that I sent to the publisher when I submitted my book for consideration.  Those illustrations, I was told, were one of the strong reasons that this publisher chose my book.  Her color choices and artistic style heavily influenced my final illustrations that are actually the ones you will see in the book!

My sister Mary and her husband Curt, both helped me see the bigger potential for my book.  Mary is one of my biggest cheerleaders and, since she has a publishing background herself, was one of the most hands-on participants in making my book become polished and professional and ready to submit for publication.  Curt is one of the greatest dream-casters that I have ever personally known.  His enthusiasm for my book and his willingness to get behind it are greatly appreciated and extremely motivational.  

I wanted to share with you a little of the joy I am experiencing.  Knowing that my book is on the cusp of becoming a reality after all the effort it took since 1997 to get here, I have stopped more frequently in the last few months to look back over the distance travelled.  And one thing that I see more clearly than anything else is all the people whom have helped me to get here.

After waiting since October for the government to issue the LCCN number for my book, it finally arrived this past Monday!  My publisher, Robert, informed me that the barcode should arrive within 48 hours.  He is preparing the final files for print!  You can imagine how excited I am!