Easter Egg

Authors and artists often embed “Easter Eggs” in their works; these are messages, images, or features, which usually have a special meaning for the author or artist .    Here is an “Easter Egg” from my book-in-progress, “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”:

While visiting an elderly relative, the hospice chaplain shared a beautiful parallel from Scripture.  The chaplain’s observation inspired the above border illustration I recently completed.

The chaplain began by retelling Jesus’ parable of the four soils, as recorded in Matthew 13.  In the parable, Jesus describes a sower scattering seed.  Some of the seeds fall near the roadside, where birds come and snatch it away; some seeds fall on rocky places, where the seeds sprout but are unable to take root because of the shallowness of the soil; some seeds fall on thorny ground, where the sprouts are choked out, and yet others fall on good soil, where they grow and thrive.* 

Jesus tells His followers that the seeds are like the words of the kingdom of God.   The thorny soil, he says, is a picture of “the anxiety and cares of the world” that prevent the seedling of the words from flourishing.  Later, when Jesus’ tormentors torture and mock Him prior to crucifying Him, they weave a crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29) and put it on His head.  Here the chaplain saw this breathtaking parallel: in many instances prior to this time, Jesus tells His followers to cast their cares, anxieties and fears on Him.  In this heart wrenching, yet beautiful image, God gives us a word picture of the thorns of worldly cares and anxieties placed on Himself.

We don’t need to stay in the thorny soil;  we can flourish like a seedling in good soil when we cast our cares on Him.

Happy Easter.

*Check out Matthew 13:3-23 for Jesus’ full exposition on the four soils. 

Providence

“And if we believe that God is everywhere, why should we not think Him present even in the coincidences that sometimes seem so strange? For, if He being in the things that coincide, He must be in the coincidence of those things.” -George MacDonald, 1867

I mentioned in a previous post that God has repeatedly shown the way forward for this book as I worked first on the narrative, then the storyboard sketches and now, in the illustrations for this book.

Nowhere has He shown up more powerfully than in this two-page spread, which marks not only a transition for the age and path of the narrator, but appears at the very center of the book.

I needed the just-right young lady to serve as a model for the older version of the narrator, I needed the just-right church to stand as a model for the view from the window, and then, I wasn’t sure what to sketch for the right border… Every time, in the unlikeliest circumstances and locations, God provided.

Soli Deo gloria.

An Everybody’s Book

“What is your target audience?”

This is the most often-asked question when a writer introduces a new book.

I initially envisioned “I Wanted to Ask My Dad” as a coming-of-age story for girls and young women.

As I have shared the concept, narrative, and working draft of this book with people of all ages and walks of life, however, I realize this young girl’s journey and need for a relationship with her father is universal:

  • The young teller at my bank who said, “Please tell me when this book is ready, I want to give this to my dad for his birthday.  I know he’d love it.”
  • “Oh, this story gives me such hope,” said an elderly friend of mine, “I would love a copy for myself.”
  • My preschool teacher friend who anticipates reading this story to her class.
  • The young man who visited my booth at a recent book/art event.  After reading the working draft of “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”, he said, through heart-wrenching tears, “this story touches a place I haven’t been to in a long time.”

Q: What is my target audience?

A: Everyone, because everyone needs a good father.

A Working Draft

Dee, my wonderful design editor has taken my illustrations and created a working draft of my new book’s cover and interior so I may show and tell to anyone interested. I am grateful for Dee, and for all the other people God has sent along the way, who have given me ideas and input to get this book to this point. Example: the fonts for the cover were selected by my friend, Kathy, who is a reading recovery specialist and her student, Brooklyn, both of whom agreed these fonts were fun and readable. When I picked up the printed pages from the local print service, I asked the clerk what he thought of the cover. “I like it,” he said, “I especially like the fonts.”

The Unexpected Patience of a 4-Year-Old

As my favorite expositional Bible teacher often says, “the longer you walk in the will of the Lord, the less frequently you use the word ‘coincidence’”. 

Since embarking on the creation of “I Wanted to Ask My Dad” in July of 2024, the divine appointments surrounding this book are too numerous to comprehend.  From my husband’s and daughter-in-law’s urgings to put my testimony into book form to my writing of the narrative, God continually sent family and friends who encouraged and provided critical feedback.  Everyone was always the right person, with just the right feedback, at just the right time.   

Today, I am awed by the divine gift originating from a Bible study group I’d joined last Fall.  I shared with Anne, one of the women from the group, that I was illustrating a book.  I told Anne I needed a model, between 4 and 5 years old, who I could photograph for the illustrations.  Anne, who I’d only just met, said, “My friend has a granddaughter who is 4 years old.  I’ll ask her.”

 Not only did this little girl’s mother agree for me to photograph her child for my illustrations, but this child’s ability to understand and feel what I was trying to capture was astounding.  For one image, I needed her to pretend to look at a pair of birds, high on a branch.  After two sessions in three settings and dozens of photos, I caught the light and angle I sought.  Not once did this child complain or express frustration, demonstrating more patience and cooperation than most adults I know. 

To enumerate all the divine appointments in the making of this book, this article would go on for pages.   I often tell people my art talent seems to be the vehicle God wants me to drive.  If that is so, then it can be no coincidence that to keep this vehicle moving forward, He is equipping it with everything I need.

Like the unexpected patience of a 4-year-old.

Progress Continues

I just finished illustrating the 4th two-page spread for my book “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”. I had hoped to share the narrative and storyboard with folks attending tonight’s Wine and Cheese Local Authors event in South Bend, however, due to a scheduling conflict, that event has been postponed.

Meanwhile, for those interested in getting a first-hand look at my progress for this book, please mark your calendar for Saturday, March 29th. I will selling the updated version of my book, The ABC of Mannerly Me at BookCon at the St Joseph County Public Library, 304 S. Main Street from 11 AM to 3 PM. In addition, time permitting, I will be happy to share the narrative and early illustrations for “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”. Hope to see you there!

/

Feeling Grateful

Thought I’d share a snapshot of one of the end pages for “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”.   This is one of the illustrations I showed the attendees at my initial public reading at a recent Open Mic.  My narrative and illustrations were well-received and I appreciate all my friends and family who came to support this endeavor.    

As I continue working on the illustrations for this book,  I am grateful for the wonderful studio space my husband has built for me in our home and this gift of drawing God has woven into me.

Open Mic

Now that I have finished the narrative for “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”, I will be reading it publicly for the first time at Open Mic night at a local, independently owned bookstore.

I’ve also completed the first illustrations and plan to share some of those that night as well.

May God be glorified in all I do.

Quill Pen to the Paper

Just because I haven’t posted here since October does not mean I haven’t been at my drawing table! In fact, because I’ve been working on my sketches for “I Wanted to Ask My Dad” I haven’t had time to post here.

I finished all the storyboard sketches for “Ask My Dad” in December. Before I begin transforming the sketches into the actual illustrations, I am awaiting word from my printer and design editor on next steps for formatting so I know how to size the illustrations.

Meanwhile, it has been a minute since I’ve picked up my quill pen and even longer since I’ve worked in watercolor. To hone my skills in preparation for working the illustrations for “Ask My Dad”, I am creating a pen and ink and watercolor work titled “Fruits of the Spirit”, inspired by Paul’s letter to the Galatians 5:22-23.

If I like the results of this work, I will have it printed as a blank note card and offer it for sale at my book/art events.

Thanks for checking in.

Designs and Decisions

As I’ve worked on the narrative and preliminary sketches for my new book, “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”, I’ve prayed about who I could ask to help with editing the book’s design. 

Design editing is an incredibly important job as it takes someone with the technical skills to convert my artwork into a book-design format and who appreciates and understands the concept I am hoping to convey.   

As God would have it, I was recently connected to the wife of one of my husband’s business partners.  Dee has an editing and publishing business on the West Coast and agreed to review my narrative.  Not only did she love the concept and the writing, she agreed to be my new book’s Design Editor. 

One of Dee’s first questions was how I imagined the book’s format: Did I want this book formatted with a laminated cover and spiral binding, like my ABC book?  Or did I want to make this new book a hardbound?  Could my long-time printer in South Bend help make this hardbound if this was the route I wanted to go?  Printing a hardbound book is expensive; would I have the audience for this endeavor?  How would I pay for the upfront costs of printing in this format?

I posed the “hardbound” question to Katie, who has encouraged me in this endeavor since before its inception.  Katie has been enormously helpful in reading, editing and giving me feedback on my book’s narrative and has given me ideas for some of the sketches.  In response to the question of whether I should print this book as a hardbound, Katie immediately declared, “Hardbound.  This is a solid book.   A solid book deserves a solid cover.”

Others, including two librarians and a bookstore owner have also urged me to publish “I Wanted to Ask My Dad” as a hardbound.  Hardbound books, they explained are not only more durable, they are easier to catalog and shelve.  Then, two week ago, I learned my printer is able to help me print this as a hardbound once I am ready.  So, it seems the path is leading to a hardbound.  Once I am ready.

Which gets me back to my sketching; I am about halfway through the preliminary sketches for the narrative, so I still have a little ways to go before I am ready to send Dee my finished artwork.   That’s when I’ll need to think about the financing for printing a hardbound edition of “I Wanted to Ask My Dad”. 

In the meantime, I’ll stay focused on adding to the sketches laid out on my drafting table.  That’s all I can do for now.  As I’ve repeatedly seen throughout the development of this book, God knows what needs to happen to keep this moving along, so I’ll just work and rest right there.