PUBLISHED GRAD

What is the title of your book? Who is the publisher?

Skylite’s Adventure

Page Publishing, Inc.

Give us a short summary of your book.
It is a fantasy story about a certain insect, my favorite, the firefly. He is the keeper of the forest named Neon. Skylite was coming home. A big celebration was a surprise…then something horrible happened.

Tell us a bit about your path to publishing, from idea to submission to published book.

I wrote this 15 – 20 years ago. I had put everything away and never gave it a second thought. I was cleaning my closet and I found my folder with my stories. I was really excited.

I was going through the stories and I started to laugh. A firefly as a character! That is when I started to revise the story. I found a publisher called Page Publishing. I called and they wanted me to send it. Within a week I was accepted. I sent it and I have been working on my book since February and it is in print now.

How long have you been writing?
I just started over, and I am loving it and to take my imagination and let my visualization guide me. I know this may sound a little silly, but if you find what you would like to write about, just relax and let your mind take over. It is fun but there are times your mind will take a detour.

What’s your favorite genre to write and why?
Believe it or not I love insects, but not all. With the firefly, I used to see a lot of them. It was fun to catch them and to let them go. Lately I am lucky if I see a few. I did do a little research and the chemical you put on your lawn is killing them. So, I figured if I could make people aware of what is happening we could bring them back.

What ICL courses have your taken?

Just Writing for Children and Teens. I stopped writing due to a car
accident. I never took up writing again until this year.
How I ended my book so I could write book two. I plan on
doing that.

How has taking our course helped your writing and/or career?
It made me to revise, revise and revise. Each time I did a revision I changed it all around. That was a great teaching tool.

Have any of your class assignments been published?
None of my class assignments have been published.

Do you have a favorite writing tip you’d like to share?
My favorite tip that helped me was to keep reading. That helped me so much I would reread it in the morning. I found a quiet spot and relaxed I would read. It is amazing how I changed my wording all around.

If you could travel back in time and give yourself one piece of writing advice, how far back would you go, and what would you tell yourself?
Never give up on your dreams. Yes, you can get writer’s block. What I do is to get up and do something different but always have a note pad in case you see something that will help you.

Please tell us the best or most valuable thing you learned from your experience with ICL.
First of all I had a wonderful teacher! Teri Martini. It has been so long but the time away has made me focus on what I want to do—what can I create in writing.

How did you decide on the main character’s name?
I wanted something to stand out and to remember especially for a firefly.

I know how antsy Pat is. Pat just keeps on going by keeping herself busy. Whether it is writing or making jewelry.