Today, I am featuring a dear Facebook sister, Ancient Amber. Amber has been writing about something we both care deeply about: Mother Earth. I think many of you will enjoy hearing about her work!
Ancient Amber, Tell me about yourself...
I am a mother of two young children. We have been living in the same community for the past four years and I am so grateful to finally be putting some roots down and providing my children with a loving community. Things have not always been easy for us but I don't want to get into that because I am grateful for today. Today, I am writing stories for my children! I write them stories about Mother Earth! I bring perspective and awareness to the diversity of the Earth and many families of the Earth through my stories. I call this perspective, Earth Culture. I love teaching my children about the diversity of the Earth not limited to animals, plants, sea life, stars, planets and families of the Earth. I am dedicated to showing them the whole picture not just the perspective of human nature.
What books have you authored so far?
My first creation was a bit spontaneous as I was frantically searching for the perfect Christmas/Solstice gift for my daughter. She is not materialistic and she loves to create. She was born this way. She is an amazing. As I searched for the perfect gift for this creative young girl I began considering the things she already had which never appreciated for example her pre made Barbie House. She found this boring and I'm not sure I caught her enjoying it, ever. It wasn't that she was spoiled! I know this would be the first thought of a frustrated parent. Instead I began looking at the things she was enjoying. It seemed each year she could be found outdoors (if she wasn't indoors browsing imaginative picture books and trying to decode the words in chapter books). She was outdoors empathetically creating nest for animals or so called little homes, in hopes that real life creatures would find them and enjoy them! She used natural things in her creations such as sticks, rocks, mud patties, water, dried leaves and things found in nature. I was careful to explain to her not to hurt any living thing as she created these nest and homes. She was learning to respect life and she was practicing empathy while she was playing. She was exercising her imagination and likely was soothing and loving our Earth Mother just as she deserves to be loved. Eventually through story telling this outdoor play developed into fairy play and she began building fairy houses. So, I began searching for resources! She loved writing and journaling, of course it was part of her creative nature! So, after a turning up empty handed after a quick search on Amazon, I began creating my first journal: The Fairy Field Journal for young children. I then created a second title for my son: The Little Folk Field Journal for young children (so he wouldn't feel left out). With these two titles I decided to create a Facebook support group: The Fairy Garden Community Circle for families who also created fairy homes or fairy gardens because of course we are beginners ourselves and want to learn as much as we can!
After creating my first journals for my daughter and son I created my second journal: My Garden, Kitchen and Community Journal for young children and their families. While may daughter as outdoors playing I had began gardening simply from our porch as an experiment. The experiment was a success and had captured the interest of the children as well and I wanted to involve them but I feared I just didn't know enough to teach them yet. So, the next year I decided to learn a thing or two from a little old lady down the street who seemed to be an expert! We became friends over time as I helped her tend her garden and she was generous to let me grow a few things while learning from her. I found that growing food wasn't too difficult and rather rewarding AND not to mention I believed this home grown food was improving our health! I wanted a way to capture my learning experience and inspire my children's interest as I prepare to participate in a community garden this year! So, I created this journal for us! I love that I was able to include our kitchen and community in this journal. And of course I created another Facebook support group: Gardening with our Children Community Circle.
What other books are you writing?
Even though I created these journals I knew that I was meant to create picture books stories with special messages for children. And I believe these journals are my ticket to creating my picture book stories. I have always known since I was 12 that I was supposed to write stories for children. But not just any story but a story with a message. I knew their was a message inside of me that wanted to be heard not only by me but heard by families of this Earth. Lucky for me, I found this message and began writing! Some stories even began coming to me in dreams!
Tell me about your next book!
So far I've written five stories (and have began even more than that as I am bursting right now with inspiration but I am focusing on these first five for now). I am wanting to use any profit from the sales of my journals to re-invest in my picture book stories. I am preparing to release my first illustrated story June 1st, 2014. Things are looking promising but I still need support to reach that goal! I really can't wait to share more about this first title and the special message it delivers. Here is what I can share: the main character in this story is Mother Earth. The story has a special message that emphasizes and encourages preservation for our planet (Mother Earth). It also teaches children about family (beyond our own home), community, the diversity of all life forms and respecting each other! It is told in a very magical way and you may consider it a modern day fairy tale. It reveals a lesson and wisdom that I have yet to find in any other picture book. Even as an adult you may find yourself taking on a brand new beautiful perspective. There is just so much to be taken away from this story!
How can I support you?
With that said, please support me! Help me get my stories out into the world! You can do this by either purchasing one of my journals or donating directly to my project here. So far I am trying to produce a total of five titles but right now I am only raising funds for my first! If you would like to keep updated on my work and support more than my first title I'd recommend following me on Facebook.
~Ancient Amber
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