Hi Friends,

It has been quite the week. The author proofs for the book arrived.  I found myself filled with a mix of excitement, trepidation, panic, and a gamut of other emotions as I held the unopened package. Carefully I cut through the copious amounts of tape and reached inside the envelope. My hands trembled a bit as I slid out the 1st hardcover and soft cover copies of “Under My Bed”.  As I slowly turned each page i realized that all of the pieces had come together to create something real. And I took a moment to say thank you to everyone who has shared in and supported this adventure and wipe away a happy tear or two. There were some whoops of joy and a happy dance thrown in for good measure too.

The books are being printed and we are starting to schedule school readings and I am excited to have my little dream become “Under My Bed”, a read together story that I hope brings a few smiles and a giggle or two to readers of all ages.

If you have a moment please give a like to the Facebook Fan Page. Its an easy way to keep updated about special events, author readings and giveaways.   http://www.facebook.com/Laura-Sterling-1585120721710496/

Take care.

Laura

The Thanksgiving weekend was spent looking at the galleys for “Under My Bed”. I was looking for typos, looking at the layout, looking at the design, and looking at all the bits and pieces that make up a book for hours on end. I  discovered that I can be quite finicky. And argumentative when I feel strongly about how something should look. Do you know that there is a rule in the book industry that page 1 shall always be on the right. I  confess I think rules are often meant to be modified so Author House and I agreed that page 1 of “Under My Bed” is on the left. In order to prevent the overseers of page numbering from finding out we opted to not put page numbers so they don’t need to know we broke the rules. And finally last night I knew I could do no more except to say, “It’s done or as done as I can make it”. And with a click of a button this story I’ve loved is now making its way to the printers where they will put all the pieces together. And I won’t quite believe this is real until I am holding an actual copy of the book in my hands and turning the pages and rediscovering what’s “Under My Bed”.

Tonight I am grateful for this journey, for your support, for Dr Seuss & Uncle Llew, and for maintaining my childish wonder in a cynical world despite the odds.

Laura

We received tremendous support from family, friends, fans and followers with our recent Kickstarter campaign. Thank you to all of you who pre-ordered copies of “Under My Bed” or sponsored an author reading or in-school visit from Sandra & I to share the story and talk about how it all came together.

The illustrations are now complete & a new phase of work starts with the team at Author House. Over the next week we will be working on layout of text and illustrations and making a myriad of other decisions to do with the book as well as discussing promotional ideas and publicity.  We also need to get our mug shots…..oops photos taken and both of us are camera shy.

Last week I sent Sandra a frantic text telling her I think we need one more illustration.  This was the day before we sent everything to Author House. I was reading the story aloud to three cats – Teddy aka Mr 6 Toes who was trying to sprawl on the illustrations, Jazz who kept  jumping on and off the bed and caterwauling and Amber who was pretending to listen attentively but i discovered was in fact catnapping with her eyes wide open. I got to the middle section and thought to myself that there were just too many words and we needed just a little something. Sandra in spite of her hectic schedule picked up pencil and paint brushes and managed to add just the right touch. Of course this meant many hours of her time. I cannot draw stick people and would not have this delightful tale without her so I thank her for loving this story and bringing it to life.

Will keep you posted about our progress and look forward to revealing what’s “Under My Bed”.

Take care.

Laura