| From My Desk: Spring News, 2023
Since the release of The Caged in November of last year, it has been almost non-stop work. One of these days I must retire from being retired.
First and foremost, thank you friends, for taking the time to write reviews for The Caged on Amazon. Some of you have given me feedback in person and in messages, too. I can’t express what it means to me, just to know that something I put down in words found its way into someone’s thoughts and heart.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pick myself up and resume work on book three of the Herman and Jayce trilogy, The Resolve after my budgie and little muse, Taz left our lives last August. It took a long time to get used to the quiet and emptiness and to honour that quiet and emptiness. Luckily, spookily, something else happened which took me off in a different direction. I had an idea for a storybook! And I had the best possible person with whom to collaborate—my sister, Brenda McMorland.
Readers have enjoyed Brenda’s talent as an illustrator in The Nest and The Caged. It all began as a bit of a lark (pun intended) when she sketched some budgies for my first book. Then we got a little more rooted in the idea for the second book and at times the drawings inspired me to go back and write something more or differently. By the time I started The Resolve, we were talking about an illustration for each of the 42 chapters! Keep in mind, Brenda hadn’t read any of my drafts and didn’t know anything about the books. All she had to go by was the brief concept statement I give her, but we’ve always been fortunate that we share a brain and that’s why I knew a collaboration on a picture book would result in something fantastic of which we both would be proud.
The Journey of Budgie Boy Blue is a story about a young budgie chick who escapes the confines of a Pet Shop and goes off in search of his family. He meets many pets who live in happy homes and learns a lesson from each one—ultimately, about making a safe home for a pet bird.
The illustrations are adorable, the story is charming, and it is suited for early readers or to be read aloud to ages 4 to 6. Beyond Brenda’s ability to bring the story to life capturing each scene and doing the cover art, I relied upon her 33 year career as a teacher-librarian to make sure this book would hit its intended audience. (And educate parents at the same time.)
In full colour and 32 pages long (which I learned is ideal for a picture book), this project was as challenging to write as a full-length novel, and then some. But now, it is published, and ready to greet the world.
I extend my greatest thanks to Glenn Torresan, for his layout design and work creating the print-ready documents. Oh, and for performing what seemed like endless troubleshooting.
The Journey of Budgie Boy Blue is now available on Amazon worldwide. A link to purchase is available on my website. I invite you to enjoy a copy for yourself and to read to a young one. I just might make budgie lovers out of everyone on earth yet.
Thank you so much, once again, for your interest and support.
Janice
P.S. The Resolve is scheduled for release September 2023.
|
