It's about time!

Several years ago I wrote a short story about my youngest grandson. It is called Little Boy Big Dreams. It has been my vision for some time to have him illustrate the story as he, at the age of 16, has turned into a very creative artist. I had visions of it being a joint children's book. It just never happened. I finally got tired of waiting. I know the story is good and could possibly help a struggling child or two if it is published. The problem is I am not an artist and I never will be. That's just not my thing!

This morning I shared a copy of the story with my grandson's biological father as a Father's Day gift. Due to his own choices he has not been a part of his life. He said it was lovely and thanked me. It made me happy that I had followed my intuition and given him a look into his oldest son's life.

Remembering the suggestion of a friend about the need to be perfect I began thinking that it was time to do something with this document. The words I kept hearing were, "When you detach from the outcome you eliminate your need to be perfect."

So, on with my story. I checked out how to illustrate a children's book when you can't draw. That drew a blank! Then I began to realize the document really did not need to be illustrated at all. It was most important to get the words (mine)out into the reading world.  I am also aware that I am in no position to financially afford a regular publisher.

My next attempt was to check out submissions to children's magazines. Finally!! I found exactly what I needed to accomplish my purpose. After reading over the rules etc. I realized I needed to do some editing or in this case also adding words to the original story. I ended up adding 200 words, which gave me a total of 606. I also had to change the tense of the story and double space the document. I am now ready to send a submission to Jack and Jill magazine and I will be keeping my fingers crossed for the next three months while I wait to see if they will accept it. 

I have a feeling this is the right path for Little Boy Big Dreams, but only time will tell.