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By Meg Fleming August 2, 2012 5:15 a.m. O’Hare Airport—Kiss and Fly Three yawny kids were snuggled into the back of our car. A taxi pulled away and my husband swerved into the tiny space like he was landing an aircraft. Minivan style. I pulled my license out of my wallet. “I don’t really feel ready, this time.” My plane would soon Continue reading When Surprises Happen By Eileen Meyer In my first nonfiction picture book, Who’s Faster? Animals on the Move, I feature fourteen animals that span a range of speeds, from the slow crawl of a sloth to the breakneck blur of the fastest animal in the world. All this attention to speed raises the question—just how fast was my journey Continue reading Gaining Speed: My Path to Publication By Lutricia Clifton It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when I realized I wanted to be a writer. Or where it happened. I suspect it was a quiet epiphany. I certainly don’t remember hearing a sound like a Chinese gong going off in my head, and I know it didn’t occur on the road to Damascus because that’s Continue reading The Road to Publication: Twists, Turns, Detours, and Speed Bumps Galore By Keir Graff My first children’s book, a middle-grade novel titled The Other Felix, had its origins in a nightmare—but getting it published was a dream come true. Three years ago, my older son was having bad dreams. Night after night, he found himself chased through a spooky forest by monsters. These weren’t aliens or cyborgs or intelligent Continue reading A Little Boy’s Nightmare Is a Dream Come True By Allan Woodrow It’s always inspiring to read someone’s publication tale: that collection of rejection slips that reached such critical mass the author had to build an extension to his or her house to store them. Yet despite the murky clouds of self-doubt, he or she discovered the bright sunshiny skies of perseverance, and that manuscript which Continue reading A Seriously Procrastinated Dream Comes True By Sherri Duskey Rinker At age five, I want to be an artist. By fourth grade, a poet. My teacher takes an awkward little girl and encourages. She invites me to hear a poet read, gives me books, and enters my work in contests. She says I have promise, and this makes me feel good. Then I Continue reading Unexpectedly, but Gratefully, An Author By Barb Rosenstock I’m not a member of the “I always wanted to be a writer” club. As a kid, I never thought of writing books, although I did want to live in them. I inhaled the Little House series, Little Women, and the Betsy-Tacy books, along with other books of dubious quality such as the Nurse Continue reading By Fits and Starts, Careening Down the Track to Publication By Jen Cullerton Johnson I live in an urban environment where skyscrapers hem in nature. Animals dwell in cages at the zoos. Gardens and greenery thrive in manicured parks. Buoys block off Lake Michigan. Even the stars disappear under the brightness of streetlights. The hours I spend inside my house on the computer surpass the time I Continue reading The Accidental Environmentalist By Lori Degman
By Kristin Walker
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My soon-to-be-published book, 1 Zany Zoo, took one peculiar path to publication. About twenty years ago, I was a stay-at-home mother of two boys who loved being read to and who loved funny, rhyming picture books. As Iʼm sure youʼve heard more times than you can count, reading great picture books to my children inspired me to write my own funny, rhyming picture books. I had visions of children all over the world listening to and enjoying my books. 
For this article, I’m supposed to write about my journey to publication. I’ve decided it would be more fun to write about a man’s journey to his wife’s publication. It’s a tale fraught with suspense, excitement, and a whole lot of sugary candy. Okay, it’s not so suspenseful or exciting, but there is candy.