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Maria creates a story, usually while daydreaming. This means there are often too many ideas to sort through. When she dreams of a story that tends to stick in her mind, a lot of work follows. There is much editing and debate about the idea’s what-ifs and why-nots.
In the cases of The Runaway Schoolhouse and The Rainbow Wizard, the illustrator, Sara, reads the text and visually brings the characters and story to life. Next, they put their heads together and continue to shape the story and images. This can happen many times before they agree on what fits and doesn’t.
Finally, Maria approached a beta reader, or editor, who read the draft and sent me their reaction to the story. Then, the actual editing process begins. Both need patience at this stage because, as everyone knows, life today is busy. Both Sara and Maria are married and have husbands, children, and pets. Maria’s world has always involved a dog or dogs, when possible. For Sara, it is cats.
