MY GRANDPA'S BARN

Last week I watched a webinar about writing picture books and there was a discussion on where to find ideas. One of the presenters said ideas are everywhere, which is true, but sometimes I fail to see them.

While scrolling through either twitter or Facebook, I don't remember which, I came upon the title of a book that intrigued me, GRANDPA'S TRACTOR by Michael Garland.

Immediately, my thoughts turned to my own grandfather. I was five when he passed away, but I have vivid and loving memories of him. He wore a pocket watch and my brothers and I loved to listen to it tick when he'd hold it up to our ears. I remember crawling in his lap whenever he sat in the easy chair. When I fell and hit my head, he gave me a silver dollar to help me feel better.

He was a farmer and I loved exploring his old red barn. Sometimes I'd find newborn kittens. Other times, there'd be baby piglets with curly-Q tails nursing in one of the bins.

My brothers and I spent so much time in the hayloft, my parents hung a sheet in the loft to make us think there was a ghost haunting the barn. This phony spook didn't keep us out or stop us from moving the bales of hay around to make forts.

Michael Garland's book gave me the idea for MY GRANDPA'S BARN. The words came easily, and in just a couple of hours I had a great first draft. I just had to close my eyes and picture the sights, smells and sounds from when I was a child following my grandpa into his "office."

The child in my story, with the nickname Squirt, could be either a boy or a girl. He or she visits his/her grandparents and is told Grandpa has a surprise for him/her. As the child follows the grandfather through the barn, he/she encounters several barn animals, and wonders if they are the surprise.

By using the five senses, sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing, I hope to draw the reader into the story, to make the child's experience, and my memories, real to them.

Writing this story was a blessing to me, as it reminded me of my grandfather's love, and life on the farm.

As a writer, the search for ideas never stop. I hope my next one will be as satisfying as this one.