About My Books

How did The Misty Forest come about?

Last year I was in the hospital for five days with pneumonia. A documentary called Grizzly Man was on the television. I remember I was so angry with this man, because he thought that a bear would not harm him. When I went to Alaska, we were told how to act if we were approached by a bear and what to do was to respect them.

A few weeks later, I was faced with another obstacle, abnormal blood tests after a visit to my doctor. I found myself strangely calm when I was told that I may die. All I could think of was my grandchildren, that I might not be around to see them grow up.

Before my surgery, Jaramé, my grandson, came and spent the night with me. He asked me, as always, to tell him a bedtime story. Grizzly Man came into my mind again. I started to tell him a story about a small Indian boy. By the end of the story, he was smiling.

Every time that he came over after that, he asked, “What is Grumpy Bear doing?”

I told myself to start writing. I had the first story done – Running Deer Meets Grumpy Bear – and queried it as the first in The Adventures of Running Deer Series. Bouncing Ball Books answered my query within days and asked if I could write additional stories and make the book into a collection. In less than two weeks, I’d created nine additional stories!

Yes, I picked Jaramé’s brain for ideas. I told myself: get onto the ground, look and see as a child would. I was very careful to research each animal, as well as the Arikara tribe. The Indian tribe name fell into lap. My daughter, Arika, did a college paper on the tribe. The initial research was done, I just needed to dig a little deeper.

Now that I am actually reading the book to people, and the book is out in the public, I have come across Native Americans who have told me that they are pleased to see a book, especially one geared toward children, that shows a positive slant on their culture.

Now that I am working on Return To Misty Forest, I am once again picking Jaramé’s brain for more material!