Ask the Author: Shirley Whitney
Answered Questions (7)
Shirley Whitney
Where is the missing candle? When our son was 1 year old I bought a candle for his birthday cake and put it in the cupboard until needed. I never found that candle until we moved out 7 years later! A simple mystery, I know!...BUT one that we all deal with every day. Where did I put that? What made sense at the time I put it away that doesn't make sense to me now? Who else in the house could have used/moved it? Does it have a life of its own?
Shirley Whitney
I usually don't have any writer's block. I sometimes has a perspective block, in which case it is good to let a project sit for a bit. Discussing it with someone else or coming back to it after a time usually gives me the perspective help that I need.
Shirley Whitney
It is so fun when you hit the mark!...but I've found that true in every creative process that I've pursued. I've also found it very fulfilling when someone else gets the message behind the writing.
Shirley Whitney
Write little things!...cards, notes, short stories, journals, etc. See where it leads you.
Shirley Whitney
I have three book projects going right now, with several others in mind.
I've written a book about a whale that my daughter is working on illustrating. She is a busy, but artistic mom who is doing the book in illustrations in collage form. Should be amazing! Several of my "editors" are anxious to get this one done as they love the text and the message behind it.
I've also written a book about family life and how a family works together. This book is currently awaiting illustrations from a Chinese friend who has just had a baby and is busy with family life.
The other book project we having going is the follow up to the A reading series. We are close to finishing the next set of book, the E reading series. All of the text is done and we await the finishing of the illustrations.
I've written a book about a whale that my daughter is working on illustrating. She is a busy, but artistic mom who is doing the book in illustrations in collage form. Should be amazing! Several of my "editors" are anxious to get this one done as they love the text and the message behind it.
I've also written a book about family life and how a family works together. This book is currently awaiting illustrations from a Chinese friend who has just had a baby and is busy with family life.
The other book project we having going is the follow up to the A reading series. We are close to finishing the next set of book, the E reading series. All of the text is done and we await the finishing of the illustrations.
Shirley Whitney
Life is so full of ideas! I think I get the word play from my father. It just seems to come naturally in our family to play with words. Honestly, life has given me so many ideas to work with that I sometimes get blocked because I am simply trying to figure out what to work on/with!
Shirley Whitney
I get the ideas for most of my books while interacting with my grandchildren or the children we voluntarily work with. The "Do You See What I See?" book is my latest and began while I was "walking" our youngest grandchild to sleep. That is a time when I sing little "ditties" and the one about the sailor came into my mind. Because we were in China at the time and many of our friends there were learning English, the idea of using the song to communicate some of the awkwardness of our English language came to mind. (It is FULL of homonyms!) I found it hard to get the book in its final form because everyone that read it (my "team" of editors!) got caught up in the fun of either the text or the illustrations. I'm hoping that means it is a fun book!
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