I now have the dog, Slobbers, the kids, and their families. Next I needed the mystery man. Originally he would have been Big Foot but now he's just big.
Originally there was a brew master in the neighborhood. Now he's the owner of the local pub.
Now I need an actual mystery. Originally our neighborhood gardens were inundated with snails. I kept it the same in the story upon the advice of my advisors who felt kids would love the icky, slimy, smelly creatures. I couldn't disagree with that so snails it was.
Okay, my characters were set, now get it written. The first draft was written in the third person. Then I was told middle grade stories were usually written in the first person and don't go into too much detail because the kids aren't interested.
Just how do I do this first person bit? Who should it be? Why, the dog, of course, I was told. My first crack at it was terrible. Try again. I figured since I had four Saint Bernards and two mutts over the years, certainly I could get inside a dog's head.
Once I settled down to it I found it easier than I had expected and actually quite a bit of fun. I was falling in love with all my characters.
I felt quite good once done to my satisfaction. I had friends who were fantastic supporters who kept me going. Then the big question arose. Where do I go with it now? The first thing I discovered was writing the story was the easy part!
Coming up will be illustrating, then the agony of publishing. Stick around!