Plodding Away

I’m reworking a children’s story I wrote about ten years ago. It’s about a mischievous boy, Elroy, from the marvellous, mystical land of Hei-apshi being adopted into Nancy and Bill Ordinary’s household at 21^st Elm Street, in Middletown, Ontario.

I’ve just gone through the first read, possibly since I wrote it, and I delight in the story. What a surprise this is!

I’ve started collecting material to make up some collages to illustrate the story. Reading “The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless”, by Ahmet Zappa made me realise that the world of children’s books and children’s book illustration has completely opened up over the years. I can not draw, but I do enjoy photography and creating digital collages, so maybe that will just be enough.

More and more, technology is affordable, approachable, and can be used to support creative effort. I’m not saying that my new digital camera, stock.xchng, and Photoshop, will make a great children’s book illustrator out of me, but it will enable me to produce a children’s book, which is economically affordable.

This way, the gods willing, I can read my stories later on to my grandchildren. What could be more wonderful than that?

Note: for other very useful tools see flickr and Picasa