First Journey

As my bio states, I've been writing since the age of four, but my first serious effort at the craft came at age 9. I was spending vacation with a favorite aunt and uncle on their farm in southern Illinois.
A field mouse had made its way into the house, and my uncle set a trap in a bedroom closet to catch it. Using scratch pad sized paper and a borrowed pen, I created a miniature chapter book about the rodent, told from his point of view.
As I remember it now, he was a discontented mouse, bored with his life amidst all his brothers and sisters. He longed for something new so he ventured away from home, entered the farmhouse through the window, and fashioned a getaway space for himself in a closet. Unfortunately, the farmer discovered the mouse's hideaway and set the trap. The last chapter of the book told of the mouse's passing, but justified the sad ending by stating that he died happy because of the escapade he'd been able to have.
Once I had formulated the plot, I worked for hours printing the story in tiny lettering, on each folded and numbered page, to make it resemble a mouse-sized book. I designed a cover with the title, "A Mouse's Tale". It was declared a masterpiece by my aunt & uncle and my parents. (My mother kept it for years but it has since been lost.)
The days spent writing and designing that book were magical for me; I was hooked. That wee tome set me on an unwavering path to wordsmithing. I cannot imagine a day when I won't be able to conceive another story idea.