Live in the Moment

Hello friends,

This has been a big week around the publishing house. This past week I met with my new illustrator, Karen Karnuta. Two creative minds working together to create a cherished book for children. Our meeting took place in the historic downtown of McKinney, Texas.

We met at a magnificent coffee shop called Filtered. The funny thing about meeting in McKinney, Texas is that the area is like stepping back in time. In my book, that is exactly what the children will be experiencing.

The book takes place in northern Michigan in the 1950’s. The pictures below are just painting ideas but with a little imagination, you get the idea. My favorite part so far is the blonde headed children.

Vintage clothing of course will be worn and shown. I also love the oilcloth tablecloth. It reminds me so much of my childhood memories of our cottage.

Below are a few shots of my focus of the week. My daughter is getting ready to start back to school next week so the baby man and I have been busy playing at Gammy’s house.

The first day all he wanted to do was run and play with all his toys that I keep here at my house. He was especially thrilled to play “work” in Gammy’s office. How can any child not want to spend time in this precious office I have created with my grandchildren in mind?

Books, both adult and children’s line the bookshelves ready to be read. Toys from my childhood line the shelves. We had to bring down the train. And of course, he wanted to sit at my desk and work. Drawing on tens of post its, over and over. Then he cleverly found my penny jar and decided that was his money for working. He was calling them all pennies until his mom showed up and taught him the difference between the coins. Learning starts early and I totally agree with her decision to teach him the proper names of the coins. Within a few short minutes he was separating the coins and calling at least the quarter and the penny by the correct names. The others will follow on another day.

Being an author doesn’t mean I spend every waking moment writing. Most of the time I am living in the moment. And this week there were several precious moments.

Have a beautiful weekend.

Lisa