Time passed, and my daughter was now seven. I still wanted to make a story for her and felt stressed. I struggled to come up with something. I wrote a rough draft and storyboarded all the pages about a girl who lived all alone on the moon and studied nature on earth with the use of a giant telescope to observe the earth's natural wonders in an attempt to bring life to the moon. I tried to make it rhyme like a Dr. Seuss book, but it did not succeed. The text will forever be on paper in a folder.

I decided to drop the rhyme and wrote a thirty-two-page picture book. It went through many revisions and eventually was filed away, but I didn't give up! The concept kept growing and eventually, Lily's world expanded beyond a picture book. Then I got sidetracked with another idea, and for a short period, I thought it would be a great TV series.

I changed the story to meet a very young audience (ages 2-5). That did not work out for many reasons, and so I moved on. As a creator, you search for the right place for your story, and when you can write, draw, and animate, you explore the possibility. I was good at storyboards so, I thought I would create a cartoon pitch. I did it, and it did not feel right. I had changed the heart of the story. Lily was a know-it-all do-gooder who was invincible with a group of quirky friends to take on adventures with. I felt like I went way off course and I dropped the project and never looked back. I learned never to try to write stories you think people will like. You have to write stories you should love.

After the TV show distraction, I went back to writing again. I decided all the detail I crammed into the original picture book would be expanded into a chapter book! The story grew fast, and I felt I was on the right track again. It took little bits of my spare time to get it done but, I finished. I ended up with twenty chapters which came to 200 pages, at 47,000 words. I had it professionally edited, and it felt like I was finally going to get something printed!

In 2017 I decided to join a writer's group. I went to my first meeting, where I introduced my story. It was a real eye-opener. I still had further to go. I received a lot of positive feedback on my drawings, but the story prompted many good questions and comments. When I left, I felt discouraged, but they were a good group. I knew I had a good story. I only needed to fine-tune my craft and keep working at it and read more. I decided to create a graphic novel, something I should have done from the start.

You are now all caught with the peaks and valleys of LUNA LILY. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time! -Bob :)

What I have learned throughout this process:

• Always be honest with yourself.

• Your creative ideas matter a lot!

• NEVER beat yourself up for trying and failing!

• Doubt and self-criticism are part of the process. Go for a walk!

• You are NOT alone!