The Wind and the Blows is a playful analogy of how drafts of air and a gust of wind can grow to be a storm.
I dedicated this book to one of my dear friends Micaela. The idea was hers after all. She was just a little girl at the time riding in the backseat of my car when she mentioned “the wind and the blows” and I chuckled at her cuteness. But I couldn’t shake her words and later that afternoon I sat down and wrote out the story. It lived on paper for a number of months until my friends Vicki and Jeff signed me up for a writer’s conference. I thought they were crazy and probably said as much, but their confidence in me meant everything. Four months later I found myself sitting across from a man who owned his own publishing company. I was so nervous I couldn’t speak let alone unclench my hands long enough to hand him my story. I watched him carefully read each line and I expected him to laugh. I wanted to die from embarrassment but was too embarrassed to do so. He looked at me from across the table and said four of the kindest words I had ever heard, “I would publish this.”
I find courage usually begins with a single step. Connected together these steps can build something beautiful. That day I took the first step. I decided I would go for my childhood dream. A published book with my name on it. I have long blamed my mother for my desire to write. Around the age of seven she bought me a pink steno pad and she gave me the idea that I could be a writer. At night I would climb up to my perch on the top bunk and by the aid of my clip on lamp I would write. Fast forward to age twenty-one and I decided the only thing stopping me was in fact, me.
I learned about self publishing and saved for four years, but with the support and encouragement from my family and friends I took each step required. In August 2010 I finally received my first copy of The Wind and the Blows. I sat in my parent’s kitchen floor and held my book in my hands and stared at my name on the cover. It was my Jo March moment. Surprisingly, it was a very quiet moment but I felt every ounce of it with a full heart.
As a self published book it’s a humble journey for it to find it’s way to little readers. I am so grateful for my family and friends who have enthusiastically supported me with this project. There have been library and classroom readings, the book fair where I didn’t sell a one and instead considered giving all my copies away. The cold early mornings at booths I paid too much for but surrounded by my people we laughed and drank hot chocolate and had fun anyway. I couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it without you all. You know who you are and I love you dearly.
You can find The Wind and the Blows for purchase on my Etsy shop through the buy book link and I will happily send you a signed copy with a note at your request. It’s also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.