The Journey Begins

I’m a writer now.

When I tell others about this new venture, I always begin the tale a few months back—when I just HAD to open my laptop and start drafting. But that’s not the true beginning of the journey, and I haven’t been walking it alone.

The seed for this new adventure was planted shortly after my son, Alex, moved from easy-reader books to chapter books. After reading only a few chapter books with me, Alex was reading them on his own. He quickly began flying through the available books at his reading level.

I soon discovered to my frustration that, while there were any number of easy chapter books about fairies and princesses and ponies, there were far fewer easy chapter books that were designed to appeal to boys. We were fortunate that Alex was reading so early—he was young enough that he was satisfied with the pet-needs-a-home books that the boys in his class turned their noses up at a year or two later. Alex eventually moved out of chapter books and into middle grade books, and found plenty to read there.

Over the next four years, that initial frustration had time to percolate and take shape in my creative subconscious until it was brought back to the surface earlier this year. We have returned to the world of chapter books—this time with my daughter. This go-round, however, we are reveling in the books about fairies, princesses, and ponies. I’m sure we will have read them all before we’re done.

When I returned to the chapter book section of our library, I was reminded of the frustration I felt when Alex was in this phase. Instead of lamenting the lack of options available to boys (and I should note that the variety has grown a bit over the last four years), I realized that I should help fix this problem. And I began to write down the story that had been begging to come out for months.

And so here we are. I’m a writer, and Alex—my sous-chef—is editing drafts, helping to research, and discussing book ideas.

What about those intervening four years? Alex and I have been researching for this for years, we just didn’t realize it. Reading is part of the bedtime routine in our household, and we often find plenty of extra reading time on weekends (and any other time we can fit it in). We read everything from picture books to chapter books to more advanced novels. And above all else, we enjoy that time we spend together.

So this is what I want to share with you in 2 Cooks Crafting Books: Our love of reading and some of the many great books that we find along the way. I’m sure there will be some books that have been around a while, some that are just making it out into the world, and maybe even a few notes from Alex here and there.  Every once in a while, I may sprinkle in a story or two about our own books.

I hope you enjoy our journey.