It began with an owl…
History
Write a book? It was never my dream…… then I heard a ‘hoot’.
This is how it happened.
2015
The Beginning
One morning I went for a walk. It was dark and foggy. Just as I crossed the railroad tracks I heard an owl hooting from the top of a utility pole. On that walk I wrote “Who Says ‘Hoot’?” I had no idea that routine walk would be the beginning of the Adventures On Apple Orchard Farm series and Tall Girl Publishing .
2019
End of Procrastination
It took a job change and multiple story ideas keeping me up at night to finally force me to start writing. “Finding George” appeared in October.
2020
Pandemic
COVID-19 stopped the world and my creativity froze right along with it. My days were spent riding my motorcycle and gardening. Okay, ideas were being developed, too.
2021
Open the Floodgates!
When school started again, and more responsibility was piled on, the stories spilled out faster. The busier I was the more I had to get the stories out of my head. The next two books were written as part of the Adventures On Apple Orchard Farm series. “Candace’s Big Audition” was written in April, and “Pretty Penelope” in June.
While on vacation, riding my motorcycle along the Mississippi River, I began developing the Adventures with Grandma Biker series. “State Park” was written in July.
2022
Illustrator and Momentum
The new year began with momentum! My illustrator, Abra Shirley, began character developments for the Adventures On Apple Orchard Farm series.
The excitement of illustrations motivated me to kick off the year writing “Memorial Day Parade”, which is the second book in the Adventures with Grandma Biker series.
After challenging some of my 8th Grade students to write and illustrate their own children’s book, I led by example and wrote and graphic designed “The Snail That Wanted To Hop!” Needless to say, it was a very productive January!
A year ago I had created a “Lemonade Stand Sales Log” book and decided that it would be great to write a story that went with it. In February and March I wrote “Lemonade Lilli.”
Also, in February and March I began working on another little rhyming story called “Millie Mammoth.”
*April 15 – “The Snail That Wanted To Hop!” is published in both English and Spanish.
*July 15 – “Lemonade Lilli” is published.
*August 15 – “Millie Mammoth” is published.
*October 31 – “Finding George” is published.
Fall – This has been my first season of vendor shows and Public Library visits. I absolutely love it!
After “Millie Mammoth” was published I thought, Now what? I spent two hours each day commuting to and from work, looking at one corn field after another. I figured there had to be a story there…..ears of corn…. what do we do with our ears?….listen….to what?
I am always thinking about my students and what little nuggets of wisdom would help them become better humans, so I thought …what is most damaging to us in relationship to our ears? GOSSIP & RUMOR!
This reminded me of a game we used to play in youth group to teach us about the dangers of gossip and rumor. It was the game of Telephone. The combination of this game and the ears of corn I observed day after day gave me the idea for “Carl Corn, Have You Heard?” I wrote it in two days, and then used Canva to graphic design it.
*December 15 – “Carl Corn” paperback is published.
2023
New Series-Business Growth
* January 27 – “Carl Corn” hardcover is published.
2023 begins my second full year as Tall Girl Publishing. I moved the business from a DBA to an LLC, because it has grown to the point where it needed to be seperate from my personal affairs.
The new series to be launched this year is the Adventures with Grandma Biker. In this series, a young boy, Percy, goes on adventures with his motorcycle riding grandmother, who teaches him about civic responsibility and patriotism.
I originally began writing this series in 2021, after my husbnd and I took a motorcycle trip to the Mississippi River, on the eastern border of Iowa. It was on that ride when the idea came. After all, I am a motorcycle riding grandma, and I thought that topic should be presented in a modern way that counteracted the stereotype of a grandmother with gray hair, curlers, and wearing a house coat….in other words, the greeting card character, Maxine.
In 2021 and 2022, I finished the rough drafts of the first two books, “State Park,” and “Memorial Day Parade.” During my holiday break in December I revisited them, and discovered that my original 3,500 word documents needed to expand to 13,500 words. I felt the need to write this series for 2nd-4th Graders. I also wanted to write a series that took kids on a journey of new experiences, discovering general life skills knowledge, not trauma-filled experiences.
I was thrilled to be able to hire Miss Abra Shirley, once again, for the covers and a handful of black and white illustrations per book. Her work is amazing!
* “State Park” is publishied May 18.
* “Memorical Day Parade” is published on May 24.
As I learned more about this industry, I felt that I should write a Christmas themed book for preschoolers to see if it had any effect on 4th quarter sales. I kept it pretty simple by writing a counting book centered around kittens and Christmas scenes. It includes a two verse rhyming poem and festive pages for kids to count kittens.
* “Counting Christmas Kittens” is published on August 15.
Continuing with Book Two in the Adventures on Apple Orchard Farm series, “Candace’s Big Audition” makes an appearance.
* “Candace’s Big Audition” is published on November 15.
If you feel that singing cows sounds intersting, then this book is for you! It centers around the concept of resiliency in friendship. Will Candace do her best when she auditons for the famous Cow Quartet, or will she blow the audition so her best friend will be selected?
My goal is to publish five books a year, so I finished out my goal with the release of “Sleepy Kitty Sleeps”. It is an adorable story about a puppy who looks for his friend, Kitty, because he wants to play. Kitty, however, does not appreciate being disturbed form her nap!
* “Sleepy Kitty Sleeps” is published on November 20.
My husband and I have been working as many vendor shows as possible to keep the cash flow moving and to continue the growth and development of the Tall Girl Publishing brand.
2024
New Series & Growth Continues!
Every year I set a goal for myself to publishe 5 books. January and February are the months where the majority of my writing takes place . . . especially for chapter books.
On our road trip to WA last summer I began writing a book about two crabs who lived by the sea. As someone who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I knew at some point I would write about the creatures who live in or near the sea. My mother often took my siblings and I to the beach when we were children, and finding crabs living under rocks was common.
So, the story began in July of 2023, developed some more in December of 2023, and then really took off in January and February of 2024. After learning more about complex plot development, the story turned into a series! Book one is titled, “Charlie’s Crabby Day,” and book two is titled “The Sand Sculpture Competition.” The seris will be called Charlie and Chuck’s Crustacean Chronicles. These will be chapter books for ages 8-12.
In December of 2023 and January of 2024, I also wrote a book about 10 colors called “Nothing Rhymes With Orange.” I hired a wonderful artist by the name of Taylor Johnston to illustrate it.
Another one of my goals is to write a children’s book for each major holiday or celbration. In January and February I wrote a rhyming style book for Halloween called, “Moonbeam’s Halloween Wish.” Taylor Johnston will also be illustrating this book.
To top off my 5 book goal, Abra Shirly will be illustrating Book Three in The Advantures On Apple Orchard Farm called, “Pretty Penelope.”
I am excited about this years’ lineup!