How and Why

Why a children’s book?  Why this story?

I’ve been asked these questions a few times by people who know me well.  I’ve been writing for a long time.  Short stories in high school and college.  Short films and feature scripts in college and beyond.  The occasional soapbox essays on social media.  None of them indicated I’d find myself writing a children’s book.

This just felt like the best way I knew how to remember our girl.

Pearl Bailey was a real dog, flesh and blood.  Our family had pets before, many pets, many of whom can also be found within the pages of The Candle Across the Bridge.  They were all special.  But Pearl had a little something extra. She had a warmth. A personality.

She came to us in 2010, after the loss of our last pug.  My mom likes to say she manifested Pearl, and it’s hard to argue with her.  She came to us in a time of grief and immediately won us over.

She got us through the death of my dad.  She got us through COVID.  She was a ball of unconditional love that I honestly don’t know how we could’ve lived without.  Especially my mom.  She and Pearl were soulmates from go.

When Pearl was diagnosed with cancer, it was devastating.  She wasn’t given six months.  Thanks to an amazing vet, she recovered and thrived and gave us another year and a half.

But a year and a half would never be enough.  We never have enough time with our pets.  We are cursed with two different lifespans.  When Pearl’s cancer returned, we were crushed.  My mom spent all the time she could with her, all the way until the end.

I wasn’t able to make it home in time for one last cuddle.

Being 1500 miles away – powerless to really help my mom or Pearl – I decided to make Pearl immortal, in my own way.   

And maybe her story could help others.  Maybe Pearl could help ease kids through that first loss of innocence, when they lose their own for the first time.  Or maybe Pearl could help kids and adults alike think of their own lost family members more with fondness than grief. 

Or maybe… maybe reading Pearl’s story could be as cathartic for them as writing it was for me.

I just wanted to make sure Pearl was remembered.  That all of them were remembered.

Because kind souls should never be forgotten.

All of that is the why. That’s the heart of the book. The date is about something else.

I’ve also been asked in the last couple of weeks:  Why March 5th?  Why a Thursday? 

It’s a reasonable question.  Most books are released on Tuesdays, as are other forms of media, like DVDs; even comic books are released on Wednesdays, and movies are released on Fridays.

The answer is a lot simpler.

When it was time to go through the set-up and publication process with Amazon KDP, I was able to choose my own release date.  And given when I was preparing and what options were available, there was really only ever one date that made sense.

My dad passed away on March 5th, 2016.  Tomorrow marks ten years.

He never got to see me publish my first book.  He never got to read it.  But I know he’d be proud.

This is how I want to remember March 5th from now on.

The Candle Across the Bridge is finally available tomorrow.