In September 2025, I learned the theme for my granddaughter Hazel’s first birthday:
“Hazel is ONE Silly Goose.”
How cute, I thought. I’ll get her a book to go along with the theme.
I searched Amazon. Then Google. There were books about geese and even a few about silly geese, but nothing quite fit what I had in mind for Hazel’s special day.
So I wrote one.
It was a day that I had a quiet afternoon to myself. Nothing pressing on my to-do list, so I grabbed some scratch paper and started writing.
About 45 minutes later, I had the story.
There were edits and changes later, of course, but the heart of it was there. It had just seemed to flow. At first, I thought I might turn it into one of the Snapfish photo books I’d made many times before. But then another thought surfaced.
I had always dreamed of writing a children’s book.
Decades earlier, I had even taken a course on children’s writing, although I never made it much farther than the homework. Life was busy. I was raising two kids. The dream simply got tucked away. Maybe this was the time to pull it back out.
From Birthday Gift to Real Book
My sister Rebecca—Becky to me, Rebecca to the rest of the non-family world—had experience with editing and publishing. I knew at least a little about that world because I had once been recruited as the developmental editor for one of her publishing projects, The Brothers’ War. So I asked her what she thought about actually publishing my story. Of course she was willing to help.
In my complete naivete, I was thinking we might have it ready for Hazel’s October 5 birthday.
Becky was willing to help. She was considerably more realistic about the timeline.
Next, I asked my mother if she would illustrate it. Mother has drawn and written poetry all her life, mostly as gifts for her four children and eight grandchildren. I’m not sure she completely understood at first that I was talking about an actual published book, but after some persuading, she agreed.
That turned Silly into something even more special.
It also meant asking an 86-year-old woman with back, shoulder, and neck pain to produce illustrations on demand.
My hoped-for October artwork deadline became December…and then January.
Mother kept going. She was diligent and thorough, but eventually she drew the line at one thing: coloring all those illustrations. Her neck and back had had enough.
So that became my job. Using pens and markers recommended by the book formatter I hired, I colored Mother’s drawings myself.
Meanwhile, Life Kept Happening
Did I mention that in the middle of all this we moved across the country?
Just before Thanksgiving in 2025, we moved from League City, Texas, to Bremerton, Washington. We lived for several months with our daughter Stephanie, her husband, and Hazel—the very little girl who had started this whole thing—while we searched for a house. In mid-February 2026, we moved into our new home.
And all the while, Silly kept slowly moving forward.
The formatter worked with the artwork and page design, adding some background, grounding, shadows, and touches of color where needed. I was adamant that we stay true to Mother’s original artwork.
When it all came together, I loved it.
Then came the part I had seriously underestimated.
Proofs. Edits. Publishing accounts. ISBNs. Library of Congress. Website. Reader list. Purchase links. Formatting. More proofs. More decisions. What I had imagined as a fairly simple process turned out to contain a myriad of details.
This is where Becky really shone.
I’m a big-picture girl. I love ideas, planning, and—if we’re being truthful—delegating. Attention to detail is not exactly my superpower. It is one of Becky’s. She organized, researched, learned new systems, solved problems, and kept all the pieces moving toward the finish line.
Finally, There Was a Book
By July, we could finally see the end.
The paperback was nearly ready for Amazon. The hardcover was coming together through Lulu.
Our first hardcover proof was a beautiful premium version—but it was also too expensive. I wanted Silly to be a quality book without having to charge readers an unreasonable price, so we made some adjustments. The difference in appearance was negligible, while the price became much more practical.
At last, after nearly a year of writing, drawing, coloring, moving, editing, proofing, learning, and more than a little problem-solving, Silly the Goose and Her Special Day was ready.
We planned an official launch for August.
Then a family member got a little insider information and enthusiastically shared the news on Facebook before realizing that we actually had a launch plan. So much for the launch plan.
We moved things up and announced Silly on August 8 while Mother, Becky, and I were together. And somehow that felt fitting.
What started because I couldn’t find the right book for Hazel’s first birthday became a book written by her grandmother, illustrated by her great-grandmother, and brought to life with a tremendous amount of help from her great-aunt.
All because one little girl was turning one silly goose.