In my household

Ok, CPH, this one’s for you. If you’ve ever doubted your place in my household, let this story settle any perceived issue.

My nine year old wants to make some money. So she decided to write a book.

Needless to say we had to have a little discussion about plagiarism, even if it is from the Bible. 🙂 (Still, a proud mom moment!)

What I didn’t expect is how seriously she wants me to turn her stories in to a publisher! And, not to just any publisher! It has to beConcordia Publishing House. “At least I know exactly what publisher I want to use.” And, “Mom, you know right where to send it!” 😯

She really, really wants me to send them in. Now, I could try to make a lesson out of this: talk her through writing a proposal, get her to learn to type better, etc., but I’m a bit frightened about how resolute she seems. “Oh, and don’t tell them my age, Mommy! Don’t let them know I’m only nine!”

CPH, you may not always publish my books, but obviously you’re the publishing house we talk about the most around our kids! Thanks for the fine things you’ve published! I’ll try to find a way out of submitting her two current drafts! 😉

Ladies and gentlemen, at least she’s excited about writing. I wish I were currently excited about writing! My Elizabeth even asked our local librarian to start a writers’ club! Meanwhile, I’m exhausted and fizzled, watching amazed.

And, maybe that’s one more reason why we’re in this together. May excitement spread and catch. May many projects be undertaken, and may our children’s children love words and writing, too (even when the feeling isn’t quite mutual!)!

PS. My third oldest daughter also just told me she wants to write books when she grows up. She’s five. 😀 My second oldest? What does she want to do when she grows up, you ask? At the mighty age and experience of seven years, she says, “I don’t want a job! I don’t want to work.” lol That’s how things stand in my household right now!

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3 Responses to In my household

  1. Mary Laesch

    Mary, I just love your posts–so real. My seven-year-old daughter writes and illustrates “books” (several pages of copier paper folded and stapled together) almost every day, and it makes my heart sing! Last night my nine-year-old was copying Bible verses into a book he made (complete with a computer clip-art picture of Jesus on the front) for Team City Bible, a club he and his friends made up—blatant plagiarism, but I’ll take it 🙂
    Thanks for your encouragement for Lutheran writers, your resources, and your ideas. Your posts bring a smile to my day.

  2. Peggy Kuethe

    This story makes me smile! Thanks, Mary and Mary! My 12-yr-old grandson writes and illustrates adventure stories. His “bound” collection dates back several years. Encouraging children to write turns them in to great readers and thinkers (according to me, anyway). I certainly wouldn’t discourage a young writer from submitting. ;-D

  3. Well, THIS sounds familiar! Mary, I am through 14 of my daughter’s 29 chapters of her first fantasy novel that she wants published. (She’s writing #4 in the series right now.) She is also getting peer review; one of her friends from choir camp is now reading it. So we are a little more on the way. Thank you for your help and encouragement in the past. — JG

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