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Exciting New Year

Well, I think I did it, I created a new story with a more imaginative spin. My new character Keisha is a day dreamer, and while exploring teacups in her mother's cupboard she believes the teacups have come alive to tell her stories of how they came to belong to her Mom.

Ms. Bei, is of course Chinese, Chai Bei, is the Mandarin word for teacup, and Ms. Ocha, well she is Japanese, as O Cha is the honorable word for Tea, she tell Keisha of an Omi Ai tea ceremony.

Illustration by Allison Healey

Last, but not least, is Ms. Furtuna... an African teacup from Eritrea who tells her how Shaihi is made (tea with spices and honey). Keisha also gets a history lesson from Furtuna.

The artwork for this story is also a dream come true for me... Allison Healy has created a fabulous Keisha... and I can't wait to see the entire book.

Originally, I told the story with Mom telling Keisha about the cups one, by one... but it was getting long, and boring to be honest.

Then I remembered how my kids loved "Beauty and the Beast" when the candlesticks, and teapot came alive, so why not Keisha's after all five-year-olds are day dreamers, and teatime, is make-believe-time for little girls... and big girls too!

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New Year New Books

Being an author is an inspiring task, and after writing my first book 7 years ago with my late husband Richard F. Thorpe, I am even more passionate or determined to be creative.

Although I spend most of my free time with our youngest son. I schedule the hours he's in Kindergarten to write, and run Wiggles Press.

Gabe, is the inspiration of my toddler series for young readers: The Adventures of Gabe (series). The stories came from a time when we overcame the loss together (Gabe was 1.5 years when his father passed from leukemia). We spent our time bike ridding, taking trips to the park.

I am finding just as much to write about from reflecting on my years rearing my two older children, who are now in college: ages 21 and 19.

In fact, Misha my daughter who will be 20 this year, is aka Captain Remarkabe... of "The Adventures of Captain Remarkable. "

In this New Year of the Tiger, I have a new objective - to stretch my creativity and break into fantasy, and illusion.

Although my first book this year, Gabe's Nantucket Adventure; Daffodil, Dogs, and Cars lends it self to my genre of books based in realism, my second, "The Tales of the Tea Cups," will be about Keisha a new character, who is not one of my children.

when she opens up her mother's cupboard, and all the teacups come to life to tell her tales of their unique journeys from distant lands and how to make the teas of their cultures.

With so many New Authors on aboard at Wiggles Press, I have to keep up, they are a promising crew of new writers.

There will be more imagination inspiration during this Year of the Tiger! Happy New!

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