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I wrote Trockle for my son when he was little. He developed a brief but intense fear of monsters living under his bed, and I wrote Trockle - not so much to banish the fear as to address it head on and give him something to read while he lay awake in his room with the light on, contemplating creatures below. Bad mom, using his fear to further his reading skills...

My son is now old enough to be embarrassed by the whole story, but proud enough of his mom for writing a real book that he's willing to go with me to book signings and even sign copies himself. He really was my inspiration, my first editor, my collaborator, and my staunchest supporter. But it was Vivian Gilbert Zabel, president of 4RV Publishing, who first said, "You have to get this published," and then followed up five or six years later to ask if 4RV could publish it.

It took me less than an hour to write the story, and it took us over a year to find the perfect illustrator - Jordan M. Vinyard - and produce a book. In some ways, it really is like "birthing a book." Fortunately, none of us had to gain 36 lbs. to do it.

I'm not going to go into detail - part of me likes to pretend that the whole thing was absolutely effortless, a gracefully choreographed effort from start to finish. But Jordan was actually the third illustrator to work on the book (they say "third time's a charm," and I believe it!) There were issues with the printing, issues with shipping (USPS hates us - they tried to have a Rugby match with one box of books, and I have the pictures to prove it), and issues with books arriving on time for the launch and planned promotions. But the book itself is a thing of beauty. I have seen children as young as a year old reach for it longingly, and I know kids aged ten to twelve who still enjoy reading it.

Editor Janelle Zabel and publisher Vivian Zabel suggested a couple of minor changes, and I agreed; small details added to the story.

Jordan grasped the concept and the characters from the start, and added her own delightful touches to bring the story of Stephen and Trockle to life on the pages. We didn't speak to each other, let alone meet, until the book was finished. We met at the launch, in Denton, TX.

The printer loved the book and wanted permission to use it as a sample. They also found and helped to fix issues with the cover art, and turned out to be as perfectionistic as the lot of us.

Traditional publishing is a team effort. For me, it's a better fit than self-publishing. Although it doesn't get me off the hook for promotions and sales work, it does mean I don't have to go it alone - I have a whole team behind and beside me, supporting me and prodding me and sometimes goading me into doing what needs to be done to push my "baby" into the spotlight and get the word out that it's for sale. While I was comfortable enough with the back end of writing and book production to go it alone, I would have let Trockle languish in a drawer without marketing, publicity, and sales help.