One Year!

I’m sure you’ve often heard people comparing publishing a book much like giving birth to a child. That metaphor hasn’t always set well with me, and yet I see the comparison. Because writing is usually a long and very personal process, it can feel like this art form you have created in all of the nooks and crannies of your quiet life is suddenly torn asunder from your possession and thrust out into the world to complete strangers. Well, The Northland Beckons is now one year old! (Feel free to hoot and holler here, I sure did!)

It’s been such an interesting journey and an opportunity to meet so many new people and learn new things. This year has been attending book fairs, entering book awards and getting one, the Moonbeam Children’s book award, waiting to hear back on a couple more, meeting bookstore owners and having haiku workshops in libraries, schools, bookstores, and even churches!

For an aspiring writer, the number one quest is, ‘how do I get my work published?’ Anne Lamott has this to say about that: “I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises.”

She is absolutely correct. My dream of becoming a published author has been a very long held dream. But even though that initial goal has been met, life goes on, and the problems that were in my life prior to being published, did not just suddenly go away, they are still here. This past year has been one of the most difficult in my life with the changes that had to take place with my elderly parents. Publication didn’t make that painful, heart-wrenching problem any better, but writing did.

The most humbling aspect of doing the haiku workshops is the incredible honor of people sharing their own very personal stories through haiku and hearing their journeys of writing. Sometimes their stories are so poignant and bittersweet that I’m flabbergasted that I get to be the one to tenderly listen and hold space for those stories. It reminds me of those very special moments when teaching a child, so tender, vulnerable, and precious. Then I know that I’m on the right track.

Another great privilege of this special birthday is that I get to do this artistic endeavor with my all grown-up children. Sofia is busy illustrating the next book, and Kohei is my master technical adviser and assistant. This process wouldn’t happen without them! I love that we can still work on a creative endeavor as a family.

Thank you to all who have been on this happy haiku journey with us! For all who love writing, I’ll end this with one more Anne Lamott quote, “You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander.”

Happy Wandering!