Well it has finally happened…I’m a published author (my AmazonConnect author profile). Read on for more.

You might be wondering about the inspiration for “ Pear in a Bowl: a whimsical series “…so here it is.

Way back in the 80’s, when I was but a youngster living in Raleigh, NC, I was involved in some community theatre events at a placed called Raleigh Little Theatre, and so we were used to going there to see various plays throughout the year. Before the show, guests were invited to socialize down in the green room before going to their seats. The green room walls were often filled with art, and people milled around chatting while enjoying light beverages.

One evening, we went to see a play (I can’t remember what it was now, but perhaps something like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat), and we went downstairs to see what new art might be hanging on the wall.

That was where we discovered a pear in a bowl, literally. My mom could not stop laughing. It was just a drawing of a pear, sitting in a bowl. Nothing more, nothing less. Who knows why we laughed so hard, but it stuck with me, and even today, we still laugh about it. Perhaps it was because it seemed so out of place with the other art and photos in the room. We went from landscapes and nature scenes, to a wooden bowl with a piece of fruit in it. Go figure…

And so, later that night or later that week, I wrote the poem, Pear in a Bowl, and then stored it away in a stack of other poems. Gradually, I wrote more and more that I thought fell into that “whimsical” category, and eventually finished a stack of about 50 or so. Granted, that was over a 10-15 year period.

I had thought off and on that I wanted to publish a few books of poetry. In early 2006, I went through all of my work from the last 20 years and categorized them into three sections: whimsical (or just plain nutty), religious/spiritual, and love poems. The whimsical section was the bulky one, so I went for that one first. I put all of the poems and stories together and began editing, but still had no plans for how I was going to get them published.

Along came Booksurge, an amazon.com company. I had been doing some research on self-publishing, and what better spot to try than a company affiliated with one of my favourite online shopping spots. The two reps that I worked with were very helpful, and steered me in the right directions for creating my ready to publish book. Really, it could not have gone smoother, and the turnaround time to complete it was less than two weeks.

And so here we are…my first (finally) published book of poems, Pear in a Bowl, a whimsical series. What’s next? After completing the National Novel Writing Month back in November 2006, I’ve got two completed novels that I’m now pushing into editing (and two more in progress). The first one that I plan to publish is a fairy tale, targeted for teens to read, or parents to read to younger children. The second one will be a humorous adventure for young adults and adults.

Until next time…happy reading!

Note: This blog entry is also available on my AmazonConnect link listed above.