Author & Illustrator Ambitions | Story Time Tuesday

The day was calm, the warm sunshine trickled through the leaves. I sat silently watching the lacy shadows dance across the lawn. I was still in my pajamas and slippers. The soft noise of the trees swaying kept me silent. I held a colored pencil in my hand, dreams in my heart, and creativity in my mind. 

I was 10, maybe 12, when my sister Samantha and I decided to write a book. 

I did the artwork and she wrote the story.

A Year of Summers was our very first attempt. 

It sits in a box on my closet floor. Sometimes I find it and re-read it. While the artwork is sub-par the story itself is actually really good.

I have sketches of the main character, Ellie (short for Eleanor) in my old, tattered sketch book. Ellie wears a bow in her hair, she has an adventurous tendency, sometimes she makes huge mistakes and gets really discouraged, but she has a determined spirit and nothing can stop her from achieving her goals. I think there's a little bit of Ellie in all of us. 

I would love to tell you more about it, but I don't want to give away too many details in case Scholastic wants to publish us one day ;)

Stay inspired,

Carley