New additions - New directions

The word has come and there will be two new grandchildren in my family, arriving from China by the middle of July. Emma will be three and Andrew will be four. What does this mean to me as a writer? Been thinking that I must go back and polish up several stories I wrote when my children were this young. I no longer have the drafts but because they wanted to hear them so often much of the sense is still with me. Of course these should be picture books but I have no artistic ability, but that won't keep me from sharing these stories with the new additions to the family.

Do you write your YA stories for the children in your family, or are they written for yourself? Stories are meant to be shared, to be told. So with the addition of new children, my writing will expand again. I do write for myself and I do write for the children in my family. New additions can mean new directions. We'll see what happens.

I recently finished the last of a four part fantasy series for children. Many of the characters are based on my grandchildren. The young people in these stories have aged as the grandchildren aged. When I learned about the two new ones I had to add them to the story but only in a general way since I didn't know them. I also discovered that while I was writing for these children in the family, I was also writing for myself by exploring the worlds of fantasy and the talents of the characters I was putting my dreams on paper. Sometimes my nightmares as well. Good stories need both dreams and nightmares, writing for one's self and for others.