Each step toward a new beginning brings with it anticipation and I have been counting down the days while pretending that nothing is happening. In the midst of so much I did something crazy and finally finished my first picture book. It’s been sitting in my draw for years for a combination of reasons. A book for children is deceptively simple and there was part of me weighed down by the enormous task. Whenever the thought came to publish I would hesitate and there would always be an excuse, later, always later.
It is hard to tell if I left it too late to publish or too early, giving the task a finality, a resolution that once seemed so far away. Yet the enormity of the end still feels surreal and unimaginable when in reality it is already done. For years I have written poetry but had found every excuse to sidestep a children’s story with the additional structure making the process seem impossible.
There was a fear that would knot in my stomach at the thought of working with the words that help build language and begin the journey of reading. I felt the added burden to carry with the mixing of poetry, where the words flow into patterns and tell a story until the end. There is still a sense of unbelievability that sweeps the doubt away, taking in the moment before it fades.
Chantelle Griffin 