This article was last updated on the 20th June, 2015 by Patrick Carpen.
When I was just 3 years old, I was inspired somehow to become a professional children’s writer. I would scribble bits of stories, in the most ridiculous manner, on pieces of paper.
By the time I was 5 years old, I had forgotten about this dream. When I was 15 years old, the dream rekindled again somehow. I started to scribble bits of stories on pieces of paper again. I scribbled a proposal letter and mailed it off to a UK publisher whose address I found in a children’s book in the local library.
The publisher wrote back and said they couldn’t handle my work at the moment but they suggested that I purchase a copy of The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, which lists many publishers who are willing to consider new writers.
I got really excited about this book, and, like the little girl Angela in my first published children’s book, I bugged my aunt day in, day out to get me a copy of The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook.
Being that she was a very busy person (and what else did you expect from a Canadian?) my aunt promised me that she will definitely procure the book for me but that I needed to be patient. About a year later, she delivered on her promise.
The book, a beautiful red and white cover, I remember it to this day, looked so marvelous in my hands. My eyes welled up with glee as I flipped through the pages. In my eyes at that time, this book was filled with wonders and treasures.
(More on the writer’s and artists yearbook later.)
I read and reread the book and followed the advice contained within its pages. However, after sending out a few proposals and submitting a few synopsis, my excitement petered out.
By the time I was 17 years old, my dream of being a professional writer dissipated bit by bit as new, more adventurous and challenging ambitions besieged my mind. But the thought lingered, although not as too much as a priority.
Related: Why I wanted to be build a factory.
Related: A song that inspires me.
Although I did manage to publish and market my first children’s book, Angela’s Lost Turtle, successfully, I remember when I was an aspiring writer as a teenager, I considered taking a course from the Academy of children’s writer, but for some reason I didn’t.
But the other day, as I was musing about life and the mysteries and wonders of it, I started to wonder if I’m not giving up too easily, if I’m not foregoing the gifts endowed upon me by nature and nature’s God; and if I should follow my instincts and pursue my dream of being a professional children’s writer more decisively.
After all, at this stage in my life, with so many accomplishments in the field of writing and publishing under my belt, I reason that I am extremely equipped for the task at hand, and I could, as the locals in Guyana say “mash it up”.
It is for these reasons that I plant to shortly embark on a course from the Academy of Children’s Writers, and I will be posting updates on my progress here for you to see how it goes.
