The proof of my new children’s chapter book arrived and I’m thrilled with how it turned out! The actual release date is January 2, 2022 but until then enjoy the third installment of the journeys both the illustrator and I took to create The Legend of Lop-eared Larry.

As I mentioned in the first installment (June 7, 2021), I had written this story a long time ago, but there was something about it that kept tapping me on the shoulder. Some little voice that kept saying, “This should be a book.”

I could envision the illustrations and I loved the way that I had written it. Besides, I didn’t want children who loved bunnies to have their desire to read bunny stories end with picture books. Bunnies can be in chapter books, too!

When the story was submitted to my agent, I was told it was too “old-fashioned” in both storytelling style and language. But that’s just what I wanted! As a child, I loved Beatrix Potter books and the coziness of their stories and illustrations. With all that’s happening in the world being so heavy and scary, I wanted a story that felt comforting, like it was written generations ago.

So after my agent told me she wasn’t interested in representing this story, I decided to independently publish. And I would use my stimulus checks to make it happen. Using the stimulus checks took the pressure off of investing my own money during a pandemic. And the idea behind stimulus checks was to stimulate the economy, right? So I decided to support creatives.

Once I decided to independently publish, I had to not only put on my writer’s cap and clean up the story once again, but also had to put on my editor’s cap, designer’s cap, and project manager’s cap. I played around with storyboarding the story and figuring out where the illustrations should go. Then the next step was to find an illustrator to develop the book.

Find out in the next installment blog, "How I Found the Illustrator," who I chose and why. 

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2 for Easter 2022. But if you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send me an email to: natashawing@gmail.com and I’ll put you on the list. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!