The excitement is palpable as the first book in the Spring Series goes in to be formatted for print.
What I thought would be a straightforward process has turned out to be far more complex than anticipated.
Fortunately the journey thus far has been fun for the whole family- literally!
With each iteration of characters and scenery my girls, Hadari & Ora get to proof the pictures with me.
What is even more rewarding is the fact that they are loving the story, and quite humorously correcting me when I read something incorrectly.
I've also watched my wife reading the book to them at bedtime and I can honestly say that I couldn't stop smiling- like a Cheshire cat as my Mom would say...
It was just great to see the fruits of my labour albeit in a crude unformatted version come to life.
Despite my kids being well aware what professional books look like, they have been quite forgiving of my Microsoft Word home printed version...in fact they keep requesting it as their book of choice- even not at bedtime- dinner time reading has now become acceptable, especially since yours truly can't get enough positive affirmation that all these hours spent project managing illustrators, website developers and other technicians is worthwhile.
If you're thinking about writing a book for your kids and don't mind if you never actually sell a copy- then I would say go right ahead.
My mind naturally deviates to the business model of the whole book writing venture - and I can honestly say that when I look at the cost benefit it is crystal clear- even if I keep sales revenues at zero and input costs in the thousands- my return is incredible- my kids are loving the process and I'm loving going through it with them.
It's certainly cheaper than therapy and more fun than a cursory outing to the park.
To gloat just a bit; my wife told me that she was discussing the China book in the car with the girls and she mentioned that she should also do something cool like that- my little one, Ora chimed in- "Then you'll be awesome like Daddy"- say no more...
Here are some of the awesome illustrations in the pipeline
