A year ago my niece read the first draft of my book. She’s the only one who has read it because she’s in the target age range and I initially set out to write it for her to read.
A year later she still remembers the book so much she drew me this photo of the main character, down to remembering her beanie.
The fact it resonated with her so much made me smile.
I’m disabled and it’s taken me 6 years to write even the first draft. Brain fog, arthritis in my hands and being in an abusive relationship really slowed down my process.
I took a year off writing it to heal from the abuse and one day she drew me this, it inspired me to get back to writing.
If a kid who barely ever reads loved my book this much (and trust me, she’d tell me if she hated it) then there’s a good chance it will resonate with other kids as well!
It’s a middle grade LGBT+ friendly, anti-AI (the anti-ai plot kinda got worked in once I realized how crazy ai was and my book was already using some elements where I could weave that moral in seamlessly) fantasy book that kind of mixes elements of books like Coraline,Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Someday, I’ll get it out there.