by Jill Williamson
Last time I went home to visit my parents, my mother had a gift for me. A folder filled with stories she’d found while cleaning. (My mom keeps everything.)
This was a delight for me, now that I’ve become a writer. I remembered none of these stories, but it was so much fun to see what my creative child brain had creative. First, please note, I was an early self-publisher. My first book, The Haunted House (click to see a larger image), a six-page paranormal adventure, was bound with bows. I think it was a nice touch. I also like my spelling of “goblin” on page two.
I went much bigger on my second self-published title. And I had greatly improved my craft. Casey Finds a Friend (click to see a larger image) was a 53-page coming-of-age story, all handwritten and hand illustrated. I did still have issues with spelling. But I’d like to praise my young self for my correct dialogue punctuation. I had antagonists in this story, though they were a little cliché. Here is my favorite line of this story:
“Casey and Micky Anderson were great friends just like tar, that know one could break apart.”
That’s deep, don’t you think?
And finally, I produced an actual typed manuscript! My parents had a typewriter, so I guess I thought it was time to do things right. This was a (very) short story called The Case of the Missing Children (click here to see a larger image). What this story lacked in length, it totally made up for in suspense.
How about you? Do you have any treasures like these tucked away in a file? Maybe your mom does. Maybe you should ask her and find out.