When persistence paid off
I am a rare author who grew up as a reluctant reader. To this day, my reading preference is for children’s literature, which is what I write. I remember enjoying theme-writing in my senior English class. There was something about writing on what I cared about that appealed to me.
I also wrote a few poems in high school. A classmate challenged me to write a few stanzas on a poem she had started. That was fun, so I wrote a few more poems. Since my father taught science and English in high school, I showed him my poems. He pointed out so many things that were wrong with them that I decided writing poetry was too hard, and I would never write them.
That decision held true for 25-30 years. One day my husband insisted that I write a poem to accompany a wedding gift we were giving to a friend. After many protests, an inspiration came to me for the poem. I started to write it trying hard to avoid the mistakes my father had pointed out in my high school poems. To my surprise, I was pleased with the poem. Furthermore, my friend had my poem framed and hung it on her wall. (I’ll get back to poems after a brief rabbit trail.)
In the meantime I had been working on an alphabet book I called Backyard ABCs. I learned about what makes a good alphabet book in one of my university Library classes, and this book idea came to me. That was in the late 1980s. I tried to think of the many things that were easy to find in nature that might go into an alphabet book. I even discovered my “X” in the now eXtinct Xerces butterfly. That first manuscript was loaded with ideas – too many ideas for a picture book.
I found a copy of A Field Guide to Little Known & Seldom Seen Birds of N.A. by John Sill that impressed me. With an online search, I found John Sill and called him on the phone. He graciously agreed to look at my manuscript. Then he gave me some excellent advice on how to simplify the pages.
As I worked on my manuscript, I discovered the computer software, Microsoft Publisher and wondered if I could print my own book. My mother enjoyed painting nature scenes with animals and birds. If Mom could paint my illustrations, I could create and print the book on my computer. In a few months we produced a copies of Backyard ABCs. My text was only a brief line about the images in the picture.
After feeling the success from writing that first poem for my friend, I tried writing poems for the pages of Backyard ABCs. Again, we printed out several copies on my ink jet printer, folded and stapled them.
But there was a problem. The amount of time spent printing the books and the cost of the paper and ink brought the profit down to less then minimum wages to even print the copies.
Several months later I discovered Lulu.com. Using Photoshop, I polished up Mom’s pictures and ordered a few copies of Backyard ABCs through Lulu.com which were sold to family and friends.
In 2009 I attended the Florida Christian Writers Conference where I met Crystal Bowman on the last day of the conference in a small group wrap-up discussion at the end of the day. She noticed my Lulu copy in the pocket of my notebook and asked to look at it. I’ll never forget her emphatic question: “Did you show this to anyone?!?” I confessed that I hadn’t because I felt it wouldn’t measure up to the publishers standards.
Long story short, Crystal mentored me as we worked on the manuscript. We struggled to improve the poems that needed to match the pictures. Acknowledging that the original illustrations could not be used, I decided to start from scratch choosing different topics for most of the pages and writing new poems expecting that illustrations would follow. That was a game changer. Eventually the revised manuscript was ready for submission.
I hate writing book proposals, and the whole submission process, so I only submitted it a couple of times. Then the manuscript lay dormant a couple more years.
In God’s timing, I was encouraged to submit the new Outside ABCs manuscript to Ambassador International, and they quickly accepted it. Also, in God’s timing, my extremely gifted grandson, Jonathan Huff, was mature enough and ready to illustrate the book. I was persistent with Ambassador International about hiring him as my illustrator, and they agreed to let him try.
Jonathan and I are delighted with the finished book. Outside ABCs released in April 2026.
A side note for the authors who attended the BRMCWC in 2026, and who will understand this concept: This book qualifies as a “41” book from concept to completion. For those who were not at the BRMCWC , consider the many things that arrived at turning points after a 40 year wait in the Bible.
