The Doll in the Window

It's here - It's here! Whee! Sorry it took so long... It's been a busy time for me.

Cover image differs here a little bit from what it is on the official cover of the book - sorry!

The Doll in the Window written by yours truly (me) and the wonderful Australian illustrator Jeff Chen. See Jeff's deviant art page where he is accepting commission work. He clearly lists out what he charges for work. He's easy to work with, too, and very nice. Even though there's a time difference, I haven't had any problem with working with him... so go get on his commissions list! Ha ha ha.

Here are a few details about the story that kind of go around the story of its creation...

When writing this story, it began as an attempt at a 4 line poem which was supposed to test my illustrator's ability to interpret my writing into an image. Two hours later, it ended up being somewhere around 1,700 words long... and very little of it managed to be at all poem-like. The above picture was Jeff's test interpretation based on the story I provided. Something I really loved about that picture was the little girl peeking in the window, and the fact that you can see the doll's face reflecting in the window. It's little details that stick out.

The summary of the story is that it is written from the perspective of the doll. Over time, she is changed. The owner of the shop repairs her shoes, sews her new clothes, fixes her hair...

The back of the book blurb: A doll is meant to be played with. She brings joy and inspires imagination. Day after day she waits in a out of the way shop for the one special child who will take her home. Days pass and seasons pass, but the people pass by, too. Will she ever find her special child?

As the author, if I analyze my own writing (I try to do that sometimes to figure out where I got something right - or in most cases, where I went wrong) I find that the doll story can reflect a number of different themes... These analyses may infer slight spoilers ~~ be warned.

• Acceptance - Changing who we are to try to be accepted doesn't mean we will be accepted. There are those out there who will like us exactly how we are, and there are those who like us how we are and will help us better ourselves... there are those who will take us from where we are collecting dust and ensure we are not alone in life as we struggle through those life altering changes - and help us accept that we can't change everything.
• Modern trends - The doll goes through different clothes through the story, implying that by giving something old a newer appearance, it will become more appealing to the eye and may be more likely to be taken in by someone. This is both true, and not true. Over time, fashion trends and even household trends change. The color bisque (a weird off-white-yellow-tan) used to be very popular for washing machines, but it is no longer a prominent color.
• Loss of a loved one - (This is a back-story spoiler...) This was something that was not outright stated in the book, but I left a line in the book that suggested the doll was only in the shop window because the shop owner's granddaughter had passed away at a young age. The shop owner believed the doll was very special, and that his granddaughter and the doll went on many adventures together.

This story is written for ages 3 and up. My niece had some awesome interpretations of the pictures (she's three years old) and honestly her story was far more enjoyable and adventurous. But on the other hand, if you like your stories following a more natural order of thinking this might just be a great book for you.

Let me know what you think of this. Comment below. :)