When my border collie/Australian Kelpie dog, Henry, was a few weeks old, we received a gift in the mail: a sheepskin throw.
My puppy yelped at the smell, barked at the sight, growled, and backed away in terror. For weeks, he circled this rug with a suspicion normally reserved for unmarked packages.
The idea of a dog bred for herding being terrified of a sheep—and a dead one, no less—amused me to no end. And so Shelby the Sheepish Sheepdog was born.
The story sat in a metaphorical drawer for several years. Henry has not been a puppy for a very long time. But lately, I’ve found myself returning to a few old stories and giving them the shape I always imagined they might have.
And so I created this book of a shy little dog who doesn’t quite fit in, but finds that her soft and gentle spirit may be exactly what someone else needs.
It’s a book about courage—the more subtle form of it that doesn’t run fast or bark loudly, but sits calmly and is honest.
As I remind my daughters, it’s good to be scared: When you’re scared is your only chance to practice being brave.
I am currently struggling to be brave.
I’ve been feeling discouraged on the book-making front, as you may have gleaned from some of my recent comments.
“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”
—C. S. Lewis
I did an Art Walk event recently where I sold a whopping total of 🥁🥁🥁….zero books.
This would have been disheartening no matter what, but it was extra disappointing since I had exceeded my expectations and sold 17 copies at the previous event. But there was a torrential downpour and I guess people weren’t in the same shopping mood this month as they were in June.
Or, I don’t know, maybe my energy was off.
Or maybe the books suck!
I really couldn’t say. I’ve lost all perspective.
“I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, ‘To hell with you.’”
—Saul Bellow
There were two other picture book sellers there this time, and my little Wumpuses looked woefully handmade in comparison to the slick professionalism of the competition.
I have not managed to place any of my personal essays, and continue getting sporadic rejection emails from agents I’ve queried about my cancer memoir. I don’t feel cut out for this! I feel very exposed and sensitive at the moment.
That said, I still love holding my books in my hands, and I still want to have them in the world for my daughters to enjoy. So I am going to continue making and publishing my stories.
Shelby is here, and more stories are on their way.
An absolutely necessary part of a writer’s equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts upon himself.”
—Irwin Shaw
What do you do when you feel discouraged in your professional, personal, or creative life? Asking for a friend…
I was on a podcast recently!
I spoke with the lovely Flora McCormick of Sustainable Parenting about The Grumpy Wumpus. You can find the episode (from July 1) wherever you listen to podcasts.
I also got some nice Wumpus coverage in the July issue of Montana Parent.
I have a new crafting obsession!
Like most toddlers, my daughters love to collect stones. They seem to accumulate everywhere—in multiple bowls throughout my house, on windowsills, in pockets, on top of the laundry machine, in the doors of the cars, in my purse…tiny stones everywhere.
Somehow I can never quite bring myself to toss them in the yard—these selections were lovingly curated and often wrapped in fabric or tucked inside easter eggs or small boxes, then given to me as gifts. For a while Violet would give me one most days before school “to remember her by.” Tiny symbols of her love and devotion. How could I toss them?
Yet equally, how could I live this way? At what point would the growing piles of stones become a hazard to the structural integrity of my furniture?
So I found a new craft to obsess over. We had these old bricks, and I bought some thin-set mortar. I still need to grout them, but we’ve been sticking rocks—and seaglass and buttons and gemstones and other tiny treasures—on bricks and I really like them!
After the success of the brick project, I decided to beautify the cement base of a metal sculpture in my back yard. It came with the house and hopefully the original artist would approve of this transformation of the utilitarian pedestal on which the sculpture is mounted.
We have recently embarked on a basement renovation, which I’m super excited about! I’ll share more updates on that soon. It’s been a lot of fun designing it and choosing finishes.
The sapphires I mined last summer are officially cut and polished and ready for setting in jewelry! I’m designing a ring with a local jeweler. The stones are way bigger than I remembered. They’re not big mind you, but about 3-4mm across and there are 7 of them in varying shades of blue and green.
This isn’t the final design, but the ring will be something like this. I kind of wish I’d had eight sapphires to signify the 8 rounds of chemo. But I’m sure I’ll be able to make some sort of meaning out of 7, given time ;)
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