A New Book in the Works

Ina is an old, grouchy woman who does not want to be old and grouchy. One night she has a dream that if she can change the color of the sky, she will be young and happy again. Ina seeks advice from a wise willow tree on how she can change the sky. But nothing she does seems to work! Will Ina ever see her dream come true?

I am very excited to talk about my latest book, Ina Changes the Sky. I wrote this story about four years ago and my husband just finished illustrating it earlier this year. (Books take a long time!) We have started a Kickstarter campaign to help with the cost of the initial run of printing, and also because we wanted a way for readers to feel more connected to Ina and her story. I’ll talk more about the Kickstarter below.

So why did I write a book about a woman who attempts an impossible task? Furthermore, why did I pick an older person for my main character? Why not a child, since that is my target audience?

Well first, I wanted to write a book which focuses on the theme of accepting that which you cannot change while acknowledging what you can. Far too often, I see people feeling unhappy or discontent with their lives. It doesn’t help that we’re constantly bombarded with messages that what we have and who we are isn’t enough. After ceaseless inundation, we’re left thinking that if only we had more of something, we would be happy. If only we were smarter, funnier, or wealthier, we would be happy. If only we had a bigger house, a newer car, better clothes, shinier hair, straighter teeth, we would be happy.

But none of those things provide sustainable joy. Joy comes from satisfaction, and if you’re always pining for something you’ll never receive, you cannot be satisfied. Now please do not confuse this with acceptance of the status quo. If something in your life needs changing and you have the ability to change it – do it! Both acceptance and empowerment bring satisfaction. But, to paraphrase the Serenity Prayer, it’s important to accept that which we cannot change, fight to change the things we can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.

Ina doesn’t realize it as she takes the willow tree’s advice to clean her home, eat good food, make friends with her neighbors, care for her local park, and spend time with the nature around her that she is not actually learning how to change the sky, but how to change her life. She is also told to stop worrying about her problems for a day. Ina spends that time gardening, playing music, crafting, and reminiscing on fun memories. Sometimes when our problems seem unmanageable, it helps to step away for a bit and refresh ourselves. By accepting that which she cannot change, acknowledging what she can change, as well as appreciating all that she already has, Ina finds happiness by the end of the story.

So why did I choose an older woman for my main character? Well, out of all the things in this world over which we have no control, growing older is at the top of that list. Time marches on, as they say, and there is not a thing we can do about it. When there is something happening in our life that is beyond our control, it can make us grouchy. Ina feels that she has two problems – being old and being grouchy. One of these things is out of her control. But, as we learn throughout the story, the other is not.

There are plenty of stories out there that end on a satisfied note – the main character got what they wanted and everything worked out okay. And thank goodness for those books! We all need feel-good stories, and lots of them! We need them because that’s just not how life is a lot of the time. We don’t always get what we want. But that doesn’t mean that this is a sad story. Ina is a story about a woman who doesn’t get what she wants. But she does get what she needs.

So if you would like to read Ina’s story and support our Kickstarter campaign, you can go HERE to check out all our different pledge levels, each with a different reward ranging from a signed author copy to original art from my husband, the illustrator John Landers. We also have a post which explains more about our campaign on our publishing website, vulgarscullerymaid.com.

Thanks for reading!