Ever since I was a young kid I have always loved art and anything creative. As I got older I wasn't sure where I should put all of my creativeness to good use. It wasn't until i was well into my late 20's that I decided to go to college. I wasn't sure what I was going to do so I took some graphic design classes. That is where it all started.
I had to take some general electives before getting into the fun classes. There was one class in particular that set me towards the path I am in today. We had an assignment where we had to write about something that happened to us and that we learned from. The best part is that we could either write and essay or we could write a children's book. So naturally I choose to do the children's book.
I really enjoyed the book and it was fun rhyming everything. I'm a fan of the children's rhyming book. My first book originally started out as fruits for characters. Yep! You read that right, I said fruit. The main character was a watermelon and his best friend was a strawberry.
My teacher really enjoyed the book and even read it in front of the class. I was the only person that did a children's book. She said something to me that I will never forget. "You should really consider writing children's books." I thought no way, I want to do art and be creative. However the thought about being a children's author never left me. Could I write children's books?
The thing is even though I did go through college and get my bachelor's degree, there was still something missing. Don't get me wrong I learned a lot on how to us different programs and software. That has been extremely helpful in my journey. I had been a bit down in the dumps about not being able to find a job in my field. It is not from a lack of trying or even from not putting myself out there, I have done both. The problem is that they want someone with experience and you can't get that without a job. So unless you find that one company that is willing to give you a shot then you will just have to continue to trek on.
It has been three years now since I graduated and I am still working in retail. I quite my last job to get a part time job so that I can figure out what I wanted to do. Also, other reason prevented me from working on anything while at my last job. So once I got my new job I had a lot more free time and a lot less stressed. So I sat down one night and got out my sketch pad and started drawing. This is when Naypo was created. He wasn't originally named that but I love his name now. I drew a few quick sketches of some characters, they all ended up being sea creatures. But I thought, what do I do with these drawings. That is when I thought back to what my teacher said almost 8 years ago. So I got out my old story, changed some of the words and that is the start of my first real children's book.
It didn't take me as long as I thought to write it and or course I had to make it rhyme still. The drawings took a lot longer, probably a couple of months. Once everything was written and drawn I thought I was ready to go. I was wrong. Read my next post to learn about all the other challenges I have faced with trying to self publish.