Our Story
Becoming children’s book authors wasn’t an accident. But it was a leap of faith.
Here’s our story.
Taya and I always were avid readers. (Or maybe that’s just a habit my 8-year old daughter developed watching her bookworm mom). Ever since Taya could walk, we took regular trips to the library, coming home with heavy bags filled with exciting adventures. We explored together and we laughed together.
About 4 years ago, we went from story readers to story tellers. It happened one night as we were sitting around campfire. We didn’t have electronics with us, just board games. As it got dark, there wasn’t much for us to do but to watch the fire and tell stories. That’s how the Amber and Sapphire series was born. It started with one story. We co-created the characters, imagining who they were and what they’d look like. And it grew from there. I would make up one story, then Taya would make up another and on and on we’d go. Every now and then my husband would chime in with some ideas for a fun ending. We told stories during hikes, on car rides, and at bedtime. Amber and Sapphire, two very different but fun sisters, became a part of our family.
Then one day Taya asked if she could share those stories with her friends. But how? That’s when it came to us. We should turn them into a series of books so that everyone would be able to enjoy the stories on their own time, just like we had for many years.
It occurred to us that it would make for a perfect passion project. A quick side note: as I travel a lot, Taya and I formed a plan to make up for lost time and came up with mommy-daughter days on which we do fun things together, including working on passion projects. Publishing a book was one such project for us, the most complex so far.
It also occurred to me that this would be a great way to teach my child skills that she might not get to learn in the schoolroom. Such as project management skills, writing and publishing a book, collaborating with others (in this case the amazing illustrator we partnered with), and many more. Taya participated in the project from start to finish, from planning and budgeting, to choosing the right illustrator, to marketing of the final product. She provided her feedback along the way as she felt very strongly that some of the characters needed to be portrayed in a certain way.
The process brought us even closer together. From serious discussions to giggle-fest sessions, it was a rollercoaster of emotions and lessons learned.
We launched our book at the Women in Digital conference in October 2017. It was an event I was invited to speak at on the topic of digital transformation as well as the topic of motherhood. As I talked about the challenges of the work-life balance and my approach to managing it, my daughter joined me on stage to share her own perspective on the topic and talk about our epic passion project. Afterwards, she got to do the book signing and talk to the women in the audience.
So far it has been an exhilarating journey for both of us, filled with ups and downs and everything in between. But we wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. And as we are preparing to publish our next book, we are looking forward to more fun times, more joy and tears, and more friends made.
If you happened to pick up our book, we would love to hear your kiddos’ feedback as well as your own. Send us your thoughts at funtastictales@gmail.com.
The story is only beginning…
Get our first Amber and Sapphire book on Amazon
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