The image is the cover of a book I sold to my Dad in June 1975, shortly before I turned 7 years old. I wrote and illustrated it, bound it (you can see the 5 staples), and did all the marketing myself.
Some people would say that it's the work of someone born to be a writer, trying it on at a young age, but I believe far more of us are born to be storytellers than end up doing it. "The Storey of the Tree and the Muose" is more a product of the encouragement from supportive parents than it is of a child-writer.
I cannot remember back to a time when our parents were not reading to us. Our drawing, writing, and all other creativity was encouraged. Dad later even provided a stage for creativity through writing computer code, and I was writing original software before the local school district had any computers in classrooms or even offices.
The fact that I even still have a copy of "Muose" is a sign of support. As I said, I "sold" it in 1975, and unbeknownst to me, Mom kept it safe before giving it back to me 40 years later. 40 years.
Later, when I published my first novel under my own name (I previously published 3 novels under a pen name), a book titled "Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle," Mom made sure she attended the launch and reading, via Zoom, on November 10. She passed away, from cancer, on November 14.
The support...that love...is what gives a creative person the ability to weather the rejections and criticism to come, and to continue creating. Often we speak of a thick skin, which sounds like the creative person will not feel anything, almost as if numb.
I'm not numb to rejection or criticism. It's just that on the huge balance scale, weights on both sides...on one side is all the love and support my parents provided, and on the other is the rejection. It's no contest. My parents, and others who offered support through the years like teachers, professors, loved ones and friends, and readers, are still winning.
And I'm very grateful.
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