Inspiration
However, the books all started with poem about a spider:
I woke up the other day
And in my sink a spider lay
My first reaction was dismay
Then I decided to let him stay
I was careful not to splash him
And told my brothers not to smash him
For five days he stayed in place
He let me get close and I studied his face
He was skinny and brownish; his legs were quite hairy
In no time at all he wasn't so scary
He had two antennas on top of his head
And big round bug eyes, the color of red
After five days my mom said to me
Maybe he'd like to be outside and free
Now if you've ever tried this, I know you would get,
That it's more fun and easy to keep him in the sink as a pet
But I scooped up his body, the size of one inch
And placed him on a bush, trying hard not to flinch.
He seemed to know I meant him no harm,
He didn't try anything creepy, like crawling up on my arm.
And now I miss him sitting there
When I look at the sink it sure is bare
I hope he is happy with a pretty web now to tend
Hope to see you at Halloween, Spidey my friend.
I, (like a lot of people), have always written little stuff like this and never thought much about it. But a friend read it and said I should consider writing more about Spidey.
I was flattered, but thought, no, I didn't see a future in Spidey. But I did have a little dog who meant a whole lot to me. (As do all the wonderful pets in my life: past, present, and future.) But, Metro...well, she was pretty special. Maybe I could write a little something about Metro.
When I got home that night, I saw a book I had just finished. Rowing the Atlantic by Roz Savage. I had been a huge fan of Roz and had followed her podcasts on TWiT. (I was lucky enough to have met Roz at a book signing in Portland a few days before the conversation with my friend.) I absently leafed through Rowing the Atlantic. The inscription made me catch my breath.
It said: To Susie...Dream Big.
It was like an electric shock went through me. I immediately thought: "I am not going to write "a little something" about Metro, I'm going to write a book about Metro." Then another little shock. "I'm going to write a series of books about Metro!" As a child, I had been an avid reader and always loved book series--but there was never enough about the character's pets.
I started writing November 2009 at a nearby Starbucks. The first thing I wrote was the name for the series: Metro The Little Dog. Then I started writing and I couldn't stop for many months, until I had written 5 Metro books! My friends' kids came over and we decorated the "Metro term papers" with stars, hearts, and puppy stickers. They seemed to like the stories so we decided to take Metro The Little Dog to the next level.
Update August 2013: I've learned there is much more to writing a book than writing a book. The first four books in the series can now be ordered from bookstores or Amazon, Note: The fourth book (Metro! Tawny! Gizzy! has been combined with Metro Goes Stargazing in the Amazon/bookstore versions.)
Update November 2014: The next Metro book has been completed! Metro's Mountain Cabin is in an anthology of wonderful Christmas Stories, The Gift of Christmas, at Windtree Press, Amazon, Apple.
Update February 2015: Another Metro book is available: Metro Loves London is in a Windtee Press Valentine's anthology, Gifts of the Heart. Available at Windtree Press, Amazon, Apple.
Roz Savage writing: To Susie...Dream Big
Roz Savage writing: "To Susie Dream Big"