When we reach adulthood, marry, and have children of our own, it is natural for us to look back with nostalgia to those wonderful memories we still carry from our own childhoods. As we watch our children play, and we can't help being drawn back into our own early memories. We can recall so many of our own toys, now long gone, and the great thrills of joy we had...the wild imaginative adventures they took us on. It is the same when we read to our children, or observe them smiling as they read a chapter book. We can't help but remember those books and stories that moved us so powerfully, that deepened our understanding of the world...that gave us strength...that helped us overcome fears, even a fear as large as loosing a parent.
The desire to pass on knowledge, to comfort, and to share hard won wisdom with those in need isn't just the nature of a parent, but it is human nature. But this multiplies significantly when the person in need is intimately close to us. Children our full of needs...the need for wisdom and knowledge as they grow, and the need of comfort as they begin their journey into an often vicious and harsh world. It is only natural that the idea should come to a parent to write a book, inspired by the needs of their children.
For example, author D. Barkley Briggs was the parent of four boys when he lost his wife of sixteen years. For Briggs, this was a catalyst that spurred him to write for his young boys. In his young adult fantasy novel, The Book of Names, he chose to "tell a tale his four sons could relate to in their own journey through loss." And truly, one of the greatest attributes of fiction is its ability to pass on wisdom without the sensation of human intrusion. In plain terms, we often want to learn things on our own, and not from others--especially as teenagers! We want to come to understand by ourselves. For this, fiction can be a wonderful teacher. And in life, sometimes things are better understood through story, than in conversation. Like Briggs, any parent in such horrible circumstances offers up their comfort and their support as best they can, but sometimes words fail. And where words fail, sometimes fiction can come to the rescue.I hope this has encouraged those of you considering writing a book for your own children. Or if perhaps you are--like me--thinking of writing a story for children you do not yet have, I say, why not? For both the parent, and the parent-to-be, just think back to those stories you adored when you were young, to those tales of heroes, of battles between good and evil, and to those books that gave you strength to fight off a particular fear, or overcome a hurdle in your life...why not write a book like that for your own child. You would be hard pressed to think of many things more worthwhile.
If you're interested in Briggs' Novel, The book of Names, please check out the following blog sites that are part of the CSFF blog tour.
Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Timothy Wise