Just out of college, I published with a very small religious press, two books. They were, in a word or two, stunningly<\/i> dreadful, but I was, as I said, just out of college, and not brilliant at anything but being twenty-one and regurgitating facts to get grades. I was lacking life experience, but what I had, I was (alarmingly) willing to share. These books were rather moral-of-the-story tales where everyone was either safely and stultifying good or they were bad and justly punished, and all lived happily ever after. I like to think they weren’t that<\/i> predictable, but I know for sure the narrator’s voice was wrong — the wrong character was speaking because I was too fearful to let the boldest character take over the story; too afraid to let things get that out of control. (This is a tendency I hope to avoid in the future!)<\/p>\n
I remember just after the books were released having an acquaintance ask “Don’t you want to write something else? I mean, something better than just writing for kids?” To his mind, the combination of publishing both a slightly religious book and<\/i> a book for children was just the<\/i> kiss of death. I mean, no Nobel Prizes here, no borrowed glory in which he might bask. I was, of course, offended… The books faded quietly out of print, and after a bit more life and a bit more school and a lot more practice and thinking, I’ve got another chance.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_nIccA6r7lXY\/R1K4WtvEsgI\/AAAAAAAAAZU\/BIc1d8GNvDk\/s1600-R\/arrived.png\")
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But then the idea took hold. Couldn’t I do better than this? Shouldn’t I? Were series the thing? Didn’t Little House<\/i> get read forever? What about Make Way for Ducklings<\/i> or Charlie & the Chocolate Factory<\/i>. Shouldn’t I be writing a Classic?<\/p>\n