January is the best month of the year my sister recently informed me. In California that is.
My frosty reply, that January is actually the worst month (in Iowa), was cut short however by her offer to ship me a box of citrus, hand-picked from the trees that decorate the campus of UCR where she currently teaches.
Thus a week later, I stood in line at my local post office to claim my sunshine-filled package. Inside, still perfectly intact was a handful of tiny orange kumquats, no larger than a grape, but with the delicately perforated skin of a naval orange. I immediately tossed one in my mouth, grinning as my teeth popped the sweet skin to unleash a burst of tart juice that tasted like California sunshine itself.
My apartment parking lot may be an ice rink until April. I may fatigue of rotating through my wardrobe of warmest, wooliest sweaters. And my feet may be clad in snow boots for a few months more. At the end of the day though, I have to remind myself- at least it’s sunny in California.
“I immediately tossed one in my mouth, grinning as my teeth popped the sweet skin to unleash a burst of tart juice that tasted like California sunshine itself.”
It’s this kind of mental acrobatics that keeps me working as an illustrator and aspiring author. Indeed, I have a very vocal cheering squad in my friends, family, and fellow Iowa illustrators, but even my internal optimist needs a pep talk (or a burst of fresh citrus) now and then.
I may still be a novice in the world of children’s book writing, but I’ve been in the game long enough to know that we all need those cloudy days as much as the sunshine we crave. It’s the moments when I try and force the words or rack my brain for the perfect full-circle ending that drive me crazy. But they also throw into sharp relief those moments that I can’t type fast enough to keep up with the words in my head.
The life of a children’s book author needs balance. Much like the kumquats I’m munching on as I write this– both sweet and tart.