Words. Heart. Imagination.
Publisher. Editor. Author. Illustrator. Agent. Our jobs are very different. Our primary goal is the same. Although we are all coming at our roles with a unique collection of priorities, pressures, passions, opportunities, skill sets and whatever other wildcard life is throwing at us at the time, we are all doing the very best we can for what boils down to the very same reason...to make a story we LOVE into a book that will be read.
'The first duty of a book is to be fascinating. Our society can’t afford kids who expect or accept boredom. We need young people with the vision, knowledge confidence & joy in the natural world to learn & work & innovate to save our planet. A book can help kids love the world.' Jackie French
The experience of becoming a published author has been many things so far: joyful, exhilarating, scary, exposing, uplifting, humbling, inspiring, rewarding, confronting, frustrating, mystifying, unsettling, affirming.
When I received my first rejection letter, generically worded as it was, I felt...honored. A bit special. Like I'd earned my first Brownie badge. Lost my first tooth. Received my first 'participation' medal on sports day. Rejection is a writer's right of passage, after all.
Dannika Patterson 