Sometimes adults do not realize the impact their words have on young minds. I gave up on my dream and passion to write books due to comments made to me by an English teacher in high school. It took me 14 years to get up the courage to actually publish my first book, Kaylee’s Adventures. I still hesitate to tell people what I do when they ask me.
Originally, I wrote Kaylee’s Adventures to help my son deal with some issues he was struggling with. It was a joy to share each chapter with him when he came home from school. We would talk about Kaylee’s Adventures and the corresponding Bible stories and each night after dinner, we would pray for inspiration for the next chapter.
Sometimes the inspiration for a story comes from a conversation with loved ones making a suggestion. For example, Timothy’s Adventures came from a conversation with one of my cousins. Each of the individual chapters came from many different areas in my life, or the lives of dear friends and family who graciously shared their stories with me. Other times the inspiration comes from someone asking me to write a special story. I have two new outlines mulling around in my mind after my niece begged me to write one for her two beautiful little ones.
The inspiration for Kaylee’s Easter Treasure came from two completely different youth group nights. The first time we did an Easter Treasure event night, I had a youth group with approximately 63 youth in it, so we broke into smaller groups and visited stations that had been set up around the church. Each station had the scripture reading and a basket with the meditation items. The youth were encouraged to pick up the items and experience them: smell, look and feel them while they listened to the readings. This activity had a significant impact on many of the youth. I then found myself working in a different community with a small group in a one-room chapel. I still wanted them to experience the Easter treasure, so we sat in a circle, heard the scriptures and passed the objects around the circle. The youth then made the heart box and put an item from each reading in the box to take home with them. Many of the youth came out to our children’s worship, which included a Godly play element, so they were familiar with this type of concept.
My current work in progress is different for many reasons. This book is for much older children, grade 6 (12-year-olds), and it’s a fantasy novel rather than a devotional book. I love my research and often find myself stopping in the middle of a chapter to research more about an existing character or a new character. It’s full of all the traditional characters, dragons, fairies, ents, changelings, strong female characters, and yes, some good lessons for all to learn along the way. I knew I was on the right path when after reading my first four chapters; a beta-reader messaged me to tell me she already hated one of my characters, was annoyed with another one and was quickly falling in love with another one.
My idea for this novel comes from my desire to show people that things aren’t always what they first appear to be! You will find this out for yourself if you dare to read it…
Wisdom is precious, without it the world is dark.
Come, dear reader, discover the truth for yourself.
Join in the story if you dare to believe.
~ ὦ, the dragon flyer~
Tanya Packer 