Background

As I wrote and revised the story of Emmalene I also thought about creating images for the story. Okay, I’ll be honest, I’ve had much more experience writing than drawing, although I’ve been doodling all my life. But I did take a few drawing classes to help. You know, you learn a lot by doing, and that’s what I did.

After I finished the first draft, I revised the story over and over until the words flowed along like a little bubbling stream. As I wrote and rewrote, I also thought about the images. I wanted one image to start each chapter. And sometimes I thought it would be nice to have another image in the middle or at the end of each chapter. And some ideas for drawings just popped into my head while I was writing.

Most of the images, like the one of Emmalene, above, were created after the story was finished. I looked at a lot of photographs of tigers before I started to draw her. And I should add, that although real tigers are fierce, I wanted Emmalene to look strong, powerful and yet friendly at the same time. She is a tiger, after all.

All of the drawings in Emmalene A Tiger’s Tale were created on my iPad. I used a drawing program called Procreate and an Apple Pencil, which is a pretty cool tool. Both let you jump right in and were easy to use.

Then, once the words and drawings were set, there was only one thing to do -cross my fingers and hope you like them. I really hope you do. I”d like to know what you think of Emmalene A Tiger’s Tale.

Please take a moment and leave a review. I read all the reviews and comments because they help me become a better writer. Also, reviews help other people decide if they want to read the story. So, it’s a big help for everyone. It’s easy. To leave your comments or a review, just click on this link to the book site on Amazon. Please let me know what you think, one way or the other. I can’t wait to see what you have to say. And thanks! I really appreciate it.

I want to thank you for reading about Emmalene and her friends Abbie and Bobby. It was fun writing and I hope you enjoyed it. In case you’re wondering, here’s a little bit behind the scenes of creating Emmalene a Tiger’s Tale.

Emmalene was inspired by a story I read when I was a boy about a bull named Ferdinand. Everyone thought Ferdinand should be strong and fierce because he was a bull. But he was a gentle soul who just loved smelling the flowers. That story helped me understand how we’re all special in our own way and how we just want to be appreciated for being ourselves. It sounds simple but it’s important, especially for children learning about themselves and the world.

And when my kids were young, I saw how my daughter and son were great pals, even though she (the oldest) would boss him around. I thought about their relationship when Abbie and Bobby joined the story. I wanted to show how they could come together to overcome challenges on the way to helping Emmalene. 

As I write, I try to let the story just carry me along, so there’s not much planning before I begin. I just get an idea or a feeling about something and then get going. Writing and drawing the illustrations are the fun part. Then comes the hard work. More about that in my next post.

Please let me know what you think.

Please take a moment and leave a review. I read all the reviews and comments because they help me become a better writer. Reviews help other people decide if they want to read the story, too. So, it’s a big help for everyone. Here’s a link to the book site on Amazon. Please let me know what you think, one way or the other. I can’t wait to see what you have to say. And thanks! I really appreciate it.

Emmalene’s new cover has a bigger drawing so it’s easier to see her when the book appears on Amazon’s website as a thumbnail image. I’ve been working on getting the site ready for her launch, which was set for October 5th on Kindle, and she’s also available in paperback. I used an Amazon template to help me make the paperback cover. The front for the Kindle version and the paperback is the same. The back has a short picture of me and a bio and a mini-summary of the book. It’s been fun getting everything together for the launch. There were lots of details to take care of before she was ready, but now that she is, I’m excited.

I hope you like reading about Emmalene and her pals Abbie and Bobby. Please let me know what you think. I love reading your comments. They help me become a better writer. And they help other people decide if they want to read Emmalene’s story too.