The birth of Hollyhocks.

I wrote a bit in my book today - not a lot, but a few pages. This book has proven itself to be a little bit of a challenge for me. You could say I've been working on it for nearly 8 years. You could say I've been working on it for 2 years. You could say I've been working on it only a couple weeks - or has it been months...?

First of all, the birth of my story is an interesting one. It happened about 8 years ago. I remember nearly every Sunday after church we would go to this little store that had this beautiful collection of notebooks and journals. I really enjoyed looking at them and admiring the art on the covers. And then one week there was a new one. It had a painting of a fairy on it. I remember she was young, only a child. She had beautiful long blond hair, pretty little bare feet, and gossamer wings. I wanted that journal. From the moment I saw it, I wanted it. 

It was weeks until I got it, but eventually my mom bought it for me. I was really happy about it. Suddenly this beautiful journal was mine, filled with blank pages just waiting to be written upon. I remember sitting in my room admiring the cover. This fairy child looked so simple but her beauty was otherworldly. Why was she sitting by the water? Why did she look so thoughtful? What was she doing? And then I started answering those questions and I began to write them down.

So I had a few ideas. Next I needed a name. Out in the garage my mom had an old set of encyclopedias. You could say I hated technology and computers back then. All of my research came from books. I found the one that said F and found flowers. I looked at all the flowers, first selecting the ones with the prettiest pictures. And then I looked at the names of those flowers. The Hollyhock won, both for it's simple beauty and its name. Thus my character was born. 

My book has gone through many changes over the years, including the title, the setting and time, and even the character of Hollyhocks herself, though her name has remained the same. Over my next few blog posts, you can expect to see a bit of how this book has been a challenge like I said and the changes it has gone through. I will also share a few of the pictures I have drawn of Hollyhocks throughout the years as her appearance was constantly changing in my mind. I was a pretty pathetic artist, I know. I still am I think. Can't wait to tell you the rest! ;)