Page 23 is DONE!
With it, we come to the End of this story.
I didn't include the TEXT on this pic, as I need to leave some "mystery" for you all!
I assure you it is a satisfying cathartic wrap up of the book.
This book was one of the last I wrote, but it got pushed to the front of the line, because when my buddy and Pastor James heard about it, he couldn't wait to get his hands on it! James has been wonderful for supporting this "calling," and he has even videoed us reading the first few books and shared them in his Sunday sermons! Quite an honour. :)
(We hope to do more of that in the coming year, this time in costume as the Captain & Mrs CHOO!)
I will share a quick "insider" scoop:
When I wrote this book, I was on a writing Frenzy, basically "pouring out" the words from my brain because it was so full of ideas for ALL these books that it was ready to burst!
It was only when I reread the story I had written out and got to the very last line that it dawned on ME where this tale came from: This is basically a "spin" on the story of Joseph in the Bible; a Parable, if you will.
Summarized, for those unfamiliar, Joseph, a sheepherder, is beaten and sold into slavery by his own brothers, winding up in Egypt. He rises through the ranks, although he still has some Major setbacks along the way. Ultimately, his brothers are forced to approach Him, (as the one now in charge of Egypt's grain storage,) to ask for supplies, when their land is going through a famine. They don't recognize him, but he remembers them!
One could understand Joseph wanting to give up.
You might also understand him perhaps seeking "an eye for an eye," when the opportunity arose.
But instead, he Persevered through many hardships, AND he eventually responded to his brothers' Cruelty with KINDNESS. Both are admirable courses of action, worthy of deep contemplation.
What's NEXT?
You might think there's not much left to do on this book, but there's still plenty!
Now I need to go back through Every page, to meticulously check for and correct any errors, or things that can be improved. That includes issues with any of the drawings such as missing/inconsistent details, grammatical/spacing typos, Font changes and text/text box placement as needed.
While I'm at it, I need to edit my Word doc of the story, to reflect the few minor written changes I make "on the fly" as I'm drawing each page.
When that's done, I have to write the Moral Page, and research the specific scriptures I want to reference.
Next, I have to convert and save every page in jpg format, in preparation for uploading the manuscript to BookWright.
The uploading process itself will take a bit of time, as Blurb has updated their program since my last book, and I need to refresh my skills using it.
All of this will be a couple of days. I will post again once I have completed these steps.
I think this is the first book I've done where I have shared a "play-by-play" of the whole process of creating a Children's book. I hope you're enjoying it.
Blessings to you all, 😊
Dave Chouhan, AKA Captain CHOO💖
