Tag: Publishing

Manatee School—from Start to Finish

Every creative project starts with a dream. One morning during the winter of 2015 my dream was born. As I gazed across the crystal clear water at Blue Spring State Park in Florida, I heard a snort and noticed scores of dark shapes gathering underwater. As the shapes swam closer I realized these were manatees who had migrated to the constant 72 degree water to escape the colder temperatures of the St. John’s River. Inspiration struck and at first I wanted to describe this scene by writing a poem.

While at Blue Spring I read about a dedicated volunteer who canoes the spring every morning during the winter months to count the manatees. Since 1980, Wayne Hartley has reported his manatee count to the U.S. Geological Survey. Mr. Hartley also monitors the animals for cold stress, malnourishment, and injuries.

If a manatee needs medical help, Mr. Hartley contacts the Florida Wildlife Commission to assist with rescue and release. The main threat to manatees is boat strikes. Sadly, a manatee can be identified by the location of scars on its body. Mr. Hartley uses this information to identify many of the “sea cows” he observes during his research operation. He has even given them names.

I decided then and there to write a rhyming picture book entitled, Manatee School. Mr. Hartley became my main character. He symbolized someone who answered a call and found purpose in his life. I gave my character the name, “Mel, the Manatee Counter.” I took Mel’s duties one step further—He would conduct a school for manatees and teach them how to stay safe.

When I started the draft the manatee “students” became my supporting characters. Instead of identifying them by their scars, Mel identifies them by their habits. Mike is always eating. Bertha performs barrel roles. Sherilyn is shy. These ideas contribute to the playfulness of the story. I wanted children to develop a sense of wonder about God’s creation—especially manatees.

Early in 2016 I sought publication for my manuscript at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. I met Jesse Florea, who at that time was editor of Clubhouse Junior Magazine. He suggested I write a nonfiction article and place a child in the canoe with the manatee counter. So I reached out to Wayne Hartley and explained that I was writing an article for a magazine. He agreed to take a friend of mine and her eight-year-old daughter on a canoe ride through the spring to see manatees. The article, Counting Manatees, was published in September, 2016. I shared the child’s reaction to seeing these gentle giants and included interesting facts.

During the next seven years Manatee School remained in a file while I published the Tales of Blueberry Street series with Elk Lake. Every now and then I would take the manuscript out and move some of the words around, determined to write better poetry. During those sessions I remembered the vision I received at Blue Spring and prayed that this dream of a picture book would become a reality.

In 2023 I entered Manatee School in the Florida Tapestry Contest and won Honorable Mention. To me this was a sign God had not forgotten me. But something was missing… I knew the story was not finished.

During the summer of 2024 I remembered the words of Jesse Florea. If this was to be a children’s book, I must make it appealing to children by putting a child in the canoe. I rewrote the story. The manatee counter became a grandpa who takes his granddaughter, Emily, on an adventure to visit his school, where he teaches manatees how to stay safe. In the fall I consulted with author, Michelle Medlock Adams who who advised me regarding how to structure the picture book and write a proposal.

I spent the summer of 2025 crafting a better narrative and sent my book proposal to my agent, Michelle S. Lazurek of WordWise Media in late August. Abundance Books offered me a publishing contract a month later.

My search for an illustrator began in earnest. Bennett Longmire was referred to me by Mickey Leonard who illustrated two of my previous books. Although Bennett lives in Pennsylvania and has never visited Florida, she did a beautiful job of capturing the essence of the Florida landscape from the photos I emailed to her.

What I enjoyed most about writing this book was incorporating facts about manatees into the rhyme. I have to say this was a challenge. When Grandpa teaches Emily about manatees he speaks lyrically.

“Manatees are mammals, dear

They surface to breathe air.”

Grandpa takes a closer look,

“I see a baby there!”

Now, more than ten years after the original idea was conceived, Manatee School is finished! I am thankful for the many people who contributed to the process of fulfilling my dream. I learned a story can change many times before it is ready for publication. My prayer is that children be filled with the same wonder I felt when I visited Blue Spring. Visit my facebook author page for videos and puppet shows celebrating the coming release on August 4. Links for preorders shown below.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Be An Overcomer

Don’t allow your obstacles to loom larger than your goals.

Like many writers, my motivation ebbs and flows according to my mood. When I feel a lack of drive to persevere in my craft, I like to read historical fiction novels which include characters who overcame challenges.

I am on my third reading of A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith. The main character, Tobias MacIvey, is a failed Georgia sharecropper who moved to the Florida scrub with his wife Emma and their young son Zech in 1858. The family lived in a lean-to made of pine limbs and palmetto thatch for a year until Tobias finished building their cabin.

Since wild animals were plentiful, Tobias managed to feed his family by hunting. When shotgun shells became scarce due to the Civil War, the MacIvey’s were desperate for food and money. Wild cattle freely roamed the state ever since the Spanish brought them to Florida. When Tobias learned of the demand for cattle in Cuba, he became a Florida cowboy, a.k.a. “cracker.” He rode a horse and cracked a whip to direct the cattle into a corral where he branded them. After branding hundreds of cattle, he hired a couple of men to help him drive the herd to Punta Rassa where the animals could be sold and shipped to Cuba.

Tobias lived in the Kissimmee area and didn’t really know how to reach Punta Rassa. Imagine no roads, no maps and no GPS! The location of the sun, rivers, and lakes provided signs of direction. Once he had to backtrack around a swamp filled with hungry alligators. The trip was full of dangers including violent storms and fierce wolves.

My favorite part of the story is the night before Tobias delivers the cattle to be sold. He felt as if all the work he had done was hanging by a thread and suspended in time. He stayed up all night wondering if he would find a buyer. What would happen if he didn’t?

Reading about Tobias reminds me of my own experience trying to overcome the challenges associated with writing and publishing.  Like most writers, my initial experiences with the world of publishing were difficult. My first book, Buddy the Beagle on Blueberry Street, was initially written as a rhyming picture book. The manuscript was rejected because the editors I talked with were looking for children’s chapter books instead. So I wrote a manuscript for a children’s chapter book. When I pitched the chapter book to an agent, I was turned down by someone who said, “Clearly you know how to write, but nobody wants to read about dogs.”

I put the book aside for a year until the next Florida Christian Writer’s Conference came around. This time I had an appointment with Deb Haggerty of Elk Lake Publishing. The morning of the appointment I paced my hotel room dreading the meeting. I honestly couldn’t take one more rejection. Like Tobias I felt suspended in time. I wondered if I could land a contract. What would happen if I didn’t? Should I quit writing?

God met me that morning. The Holy Spirit entered my thoughts with his still small voice. This time he said, “Do you trust me?”

“Yes, Lord. I trust you.”

That blessing was all I needed to give me the courage to meet with Deb. I think you already know the outcome of that meeting. Buddy the Beagle on Blueberry Street came under contract with Elk Lake and I became an author.

Henry Ford once said, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”  As writers, the obstacles standing before us are not life-threatening. But the motivation to continue to work can disappear if we allow our obstacles to loom larger than our goals. The worst thing a writer can ever do is to stop trying. Your break-through might be just around the corner. Remember God’s timing is never too late.

God’s Timing

“Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.” (Genesis 21:5)

When specific verses of the Bible seem to jump off the page, I feel like God wants me to pay attention. It’s almost as if He is speaking to me directly. Genesis 21:5 can be taken two ways. On  the surface, Abraham waited a long time for his wife to give birth to their promised child. On a deeper level, Abraham lived long enough to see God’s purpose for his life become reality.

Some people think once we reach our retirement years, our best days are behind us. I retired from teaching at age 60 and published my first book at 66. I’m a firm believer God’s timing is never too late! But sometimes our creative projects remain on the back burner for years.

I’ve had a picture book idea, Manatee School, in various stages of development for ten years. I’d bring the manuscript out—toss around the words, and make more revisions than I can count. In 2015 I pitched Manatee School to several editors, only to be turned down because they were looking for other genres. Eventually I rewrote the rhyming picture book into a Clubhouse Junior Magazine nonfiction article, Counting Manatees. Last year I entered my Manatee School  picture book manuscript in the 2023 Florida Tapestry Awards and won honorable mention.

Since then, the idea of publishing another book filled me with dread. I did not want to experience any more rejections, nor did I want the stress which accompanies launching another book.  That was until God spoke to me through Abraham’s story.

Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. Biblical research shares that the “waiting” period was necessary to test Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith. When Abraham was 75, God promised him that his descendants would be a great nation. At that time Sarah was in her sixties and barren. She was well beyond child-bearing age, and laughed at the thought of being a mother.

After ten more years of waiting, Sarah decided to speed up God’s timing by making her own plan. She encouraged Abraham to sleep with her Egyptian servant, Haggai, who conceived Ishmael. But Ishmael was not the child God had promised Abraham.

When Sarah rushed ahead with her own plans, God could see the couple’s faith had not grown enough to warrant His miracle child, the one to be the carrier of the covenant. So He added another fifteen years to Sarah’s barrenness. God did not doubt himself or his promise. He knew His words would come to pass in His timing. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Romans 11:29 (NASB)

God had a timeline which involved Abraham and Sarah fully trusting in Him rather than relying on human possibilities. Their faith is noted in Hebrews 11:12, “And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” God wants everyone to know He is still in the miracle working business!

God sees the big picture of my life, and Manatee School is my promised child.  Like Abraham and Sarah, I have experienced a delay. Perhaps God is waiting for me to be more faithful to the work. Maybe He wants me to add something to the story to make it more relatable to children. The day after I read about Abraham and Sarah, I wrote new characters (a child and her grandfather) into the plot. I have a feeling God has not “closed the book” regarding the publication of Manatee School. Remembering Abraham helps me trust God’s timing.

If you are in the waiting stage of finishing a creative work, don’t lose sight of the finish line. Pray and ask God if you need to make any changes. Trust Him to give you the ideas and discipline you need to bring your project to fulfillment.