My published book

I’ve been working on updating my art website this week, and when editing my bio, I removed a line about how I’ve been writing and illustrating since I was four years old. Having a four-year-old, I can imagine the quality of work I was churning out at that stage.

Often, I would walk to my grandparent’s house next door, pull out some sheets of coloured paper and make “books” at the desk, drawing and scribbling for the words. I recall reading one to Grandma, and then asking her to read it back to me, and she looked at me with a perplexed furrow.

Tonight I came across one of my early “publications” from 1990, “So My Friend.” I wrote and published this book myself, using a typewriter, some staples and tape. My publishing company was called “Water Fowel Publishing” – a pun–and typo–involving my last name, Duck.

Recently I was engaged in a conversation with someone who abhorred summer camp. This book is a testament to how much I thought about camp! It really was the highlight of my years as a kid.

This wasn’t the first or last book in the series – I wrote another camp book in my teens and a 400-page novel after finishing high school.

So while I am removing the published writer line from my art bio for now, this post is a testament to some of my early starts, and a toast to the future when I hope to add it back in again.