“The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure.”

–Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

I can still hear Mrs. Burley’s voice as she read this opening line of chapter three to my third grade class. Something clicked in my head that day. There was magic in hearing the words read out loud. There was something about the way she said manure – “man-u-or” – that stuck in my memory all these years later.

I was already a book lover. My Mom read to me from the time I could sit still long enough to listen. Mom taught me the alphabet before I went to school, and I recognized there was some meaning behind the way the letters were put together. I did my best to figure out the words on my own, but I didn’t quite get the hang of it.

My reading of “the” was tee-aach-ee. Teeaachee.

Not exactly phonetics.

No, it wasn’t the love of reading Mrs. Burley inspired in me on that day. It was the love of words.

At that young age it hadn’t yet occurred to me that I could create worlds with my words, but four years later I knew I wanted to be a writer. For the next fifty years I pursued my dream. I studied the craft, and I wrote. I took free webinars once that became a thing, and I wrote. There were a few years when I wasn’t able to write, but the bug always came back to bite me. 

And I’ve had some success. I’ve published about three dozen articles in various magazines. My first was in Highlights for Children! For a number of years I contributed to Pennsylvania Magazine. I’ve written articles and devotionals for a variety of Christian magazines. And then came What Kind of Cow Are You? My children’s picture book was published by Journey Stone Creations in 2006. Sadly that company has gone out of business and the book out of print.

I’ve rewritten and reworked it, and now offer it to you as a free eBook! It's now called Mitzi Needs A Friend, and is the first of a series. I don’t own the original artwork, which was wonderful, so I’ve had to make do. But I hope you and any children in your life will still enjoy the story. 

As I continue on with my writing, I still give credit to Mrs. Burley (who now resides in Heaven with the Lord she loved) and Charlotte’s Web.

Thank you Mrs. Burley!!

Link to Mitzi Needs A Friend. 

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Copyright 2024 Joyoann Dwire All Rights Reserved