Tag Archives: bedtime story

A Night Under the Stars

It was a warm evening, the thunderstorms of late, a mere hint of humidity in the air. “The air feels friendly on my face.” The sunset streaked the sky with ribbons of pink and set the scene … “A wisp of magic fill this space.” It was the perfect night for my launch of Mother Nature’s Kiss.

FireRock Country Club has an event lawn that was made for this event. Strings of lights accompanied the clear starry night and the feel of grass underfoot connected us to Mother Nature in the most visceral way. Flutes of sparkling Prosecco and star cookies iced to match the book were in hand to add to the sweetness of the night.

My friend, Vicki O’Connor, warmly introduced me. As an artist, she is all too familiar with the feeling of putting yourself out there when you create something so dear to your heart. It was a lovely beginning to a very special night. Have a peek at Vicki’s art here.

I welcomed friends, acquaintances and young ones to settle in as I spoke about the story behind the story. Instead of reading the book, I recited it to the magical music of Tracey Chattaway’s “Light the Night”. You can listen to it here.

It was a magical evening and an excerpt from the introduction describes my feelings perfectly. I wanted to share it as a common love for a warm summer evening. The idea of Mother Nature is one of universal and perfect love. It crosses borders, culture and time. May we be reminded that with every shooting star and every warm breeze, Mother Nature is reaching out to all of us.

For me, it was a night meant to share. I was thrilled that so many people came out and bought multiple books for many little loved ones. It is a story about letting your imagination soar into the night sky. The evening was all I had hoped for and more. I sold out in four days!

Let me end with the words of one of the most talented and creative men in history, Walt Disney.

I want to thank all who came and shared the evening with me. The next launch will be in Winnipeg, June 12th, at McNally Robinson, Grant Park. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

With a Kiss…

-Mother Natures Kiss Cover

 

Well, Friends, my new book, Mother Nature’s Kiss has hit the ether! That means you can order it online and if you do it today it will arrive by mid-December.

It is a rhyming, dreamy drift from a cottage window, out over the water and into outer space and back again. This unique bedtime story will hopefully become a new family favourite.

As the back cover says, it “… will unite us all with a wink and a kiss.”

-Mother Natures Kiss Back

Over the spring and summer, I have worked with my publisher, Tellwell Talent to bring this new book into the world. Yes, it took about nine months ;). It is finally ready and I can’t wait to share it with you.

I have blogged about the journey with previews of a few of the illustrations. You can see how long it takes to create a physical book from an idea! This was actually fast! 🙂

I have dedicated the book to my grandchildren.ded

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As I said in the book, they are my heroes and the leaders of tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who have championed me along the way. You will find many of your names on my Acknowledgements page. (If I have forgotten anyone, I am sincerely sorry.) I feel like this book has a community already. Please spread the word to make the Mother Nature’s Kiss community bigger!

Order one for you wee ones in time for Christmas! Click HERE to go to Amazon.

Enjoy, enjoy!

With gratitude and lots of Mother Nature love to all! xoxo

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I Did It!

Whew! I finally sent in my manuscript and illustrations to my new publisher, Tellwell Talent out of Victoria, BC. It has been a journey of exhilaration, self-doubt, commitment, fear, abandon, determination, oh – and I said exhilaration, right? The process is tough and fun but the hardest part is trying to get it RIGHT. As I said in my introduction in the book, writing a book of poetry is never finished. I have agonized over the wording and syntax and I can’t tell you how many sleepless hours I have had over this darn project! Anyway, at some point, I have to let go and today, I have. (Now comes the exhilaration part.)

 

 

I am not so green as to think this is the end, though. I will be working for at least another 6 weeks with the book designers to get the placements and hues of the illustrations right, the fonts and editing correct as well as designing the front and back covers. Then comes the first printed draft for me to approve. You just never know how it will turn out until you see it and hold it in your hands!

You know, the process can be crazy and you can’t think that all will go smoothly. Knowing I couldn’t rely on my own scanning and printing equipment (oh yeah, I have run out of ink how many times on a tight deadline?????), I decided to have a professional scan the illustrations so they would be at 300 dpi (high resolution for commercial printing) and put them on a USB stick. Easy, right??

 

 

The first time the paintings were scanned too dark so I brought them back to be rescanned and lightened. The second time I brought the stick home and started to download all my info to find the link only accepted jpegs and not pdfs – of course mine were pdfs. The third time I went back and had the info changed to jpegs but when I got home to download everything again, I found THEY GAVE ME THE WRONG USB STICK!!! The fourth time I went back to the printer, I received my correct information on another stick and happily went home and uploaded my manuscript and illustrations. Oh, but maybe I forgot some people to thank in my acknowledgments!!!!! SHIT! Whoever you may be (I won’t embarrass you here) who was a cheerleader for me along the way, I hope I mentioned you and please forgive me if I missed you.

I have to say a huge thanks to all of you who “like” my posts. It is incredibly encouraging when this writing thing is a lonely process.

 

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I want to be able to get “Mother Nature’s Kiss” out to you before the end of the summer but it is now in the hands of the publisher. I chose a Canadian publishing house this time as I felt I can keep the price at a competitive point without worrying about the Canadian exchange working against me. In other words, all my American friends can buy it for a real deal!!

I’ll keep you posted but in the meantime, keep enjoying the summer and looking up at those beautiful starry nights.

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As I wrote in the introduction:

I wanted to share it as a common love for a warm summer evening.

The idea of Mother Nature is one of universal and perfect love. It crosses borders, culture and time.

May we be reminded that with every shooting star and every warm breeze, Mother Nature is reaching out to all of us.

Happy July to you all. xoxo

 

 

Star-Gazing

“Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

How many of us have looked up and allowed a star to touch our dreams? Or maybe launch them? As children, we would look up and chant at the brightest early evening star, holding onto a sacred wish deep in our hearts.

For my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

  download-5Vincent Van Gogh

There wouldn’t be a sky full of stars if we were all meant to wish on the same one.

 images-2 Frances Clark

The stars call to all of us, not just the artistically gifted such as Vincent and Frances. They are there, day (you just can’t see them) and night, and they touch each and every one of us who live on this planet, uniting the world with a sense of wonder.

Imagine… If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.

images Ralph Waldo Emerson

They inspire us to live a better life, be a better person and to challenge ourselves to make a mark. With all that inspiration, they succeed in making us feel humble and very small.

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I’ve loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.     

Galileo Galilei

 

The power of stars is amazing. Just by looking at them, we are filled with a sense of awe. How many time in our life have we looked up and taken a deep breath, stopped what we were doing and breathed out, “Wow.” Some believe the stars have a healing power. I don’t know but I can say that one of my favourite things to do is sit and look out on a starry night and let my mind drift. It is so calming, it must be healthy for me!! 🙂

I have loved painting the stars for my latest book, Mother Nature’s Kiss. I was inspired by the circles in Vincent Van Gogh”s Starry Night, above. I wanted them to be loose and fun so I thought I’d share how I create a night sky.

 

While I am painting I listen to my favourite starry music:

So Long Lonesome, Explosions in the Sky play it here , Light the Night, Tracey Chattaway listen here and Glow, Lights and Motion yes, you’ll love it!

My dreamy music takes me away and lets me create, feel relaxed and happy as I paint and play as I go.

This was just a fun post to share and say hi. I hope you are having a great day and I wish for you a beautiful night. Check out the stars!

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xox

 

Mother Nature’s Kiss

An Interesting twinkle light has caught my sleepy eye tonight…

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I am working on a new book about falling asleep at the cottage on a warm summer night. It is going to be called Mother Nature’s Kiss and is based on a true event. One night, many years ago, I lay awake at my cottage trying to figure out what was the cause for a bright light that beckoned from way down the lake. I was sure it was never there before. The words for a poem came to me and stayed and then beckoned me to write this dreamy book.

I am using the view in the story based on the view from my cottage and I have to say, it’s pretty fun and special to be painting that beloved landscape again and again as the story progresses.

My Mom painted the painting on the right 55 years ago and it hangs in my bedroom. Looking out has always been calming and beautiful in any weather, any season and now in my memory.

The story goes on to wonder, through each verse, what the light could be and the musings get farther and farther away…

More souls in the universe and one turns to the sky…

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…Until we realize that it is…

Mother Nature winking as she blows a kiss good night…

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The process of designing a new book is always much harder for me than actually writing it. This poem has been with me for a long time and now I have to go through the process of working with a publisher and the parameters of creating the layouts and illustrations. All a fun and exciting creative challenge!

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And it can get messy at times!! 🙂

 

 

 

This poem was called Night Light until I added two more verses that described how Mother Nature’s kiss felt as well as how it looked. I shared it on Scriggler and was amazed at the positive response. To date, 2087 people have read it and loved it (with 100% approval rating!)

I will let you know when Mother Nature’s Kiss is published. Until then, enjoy the view of your life. xox