THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM A TO Z by Catherine L. Osornio

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
• Release Date: February 15, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): 9781589806764
• ISBN (paperback):TBD

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM A TO Z is a chronological history of one of America’s most famous documents written in an alphabetized format for ages 5 to 10.

Writing was never a serious pursuit for me when I was growing up. Although I loved to read (I would literally devour books from the library), I wanted to pursue a career in math and science. Fortunately, being a scientist or engineer didn’t pan out. I ended up as a film major with an emphasis in cinematography.

But my dreams of becoming a famous cinematographer came crashing down when an industry strike halted productions. I started working for a temp agency to make ends meet, eventually becoming a supervisor and an office manager with the agency. Several years later I married and became a stay-at-home mom to four wonderful children.

A friend of mine needed help developing her writing skills because she had dreams of writing children’s books. Since I had done well in my English courses in school, I offered to tutor her. But as I started helping her, I found myself enjoying the writing process, too.

With much prayer, I realized that God was tugging at my heart to begin a writing career. I took shaky steps forward, submitting an article (and a cartoon, since I also enjoy drawing) for the women’s ministry newsletter of my church. They accepted my work! I began to submit to various places after that, slowly building up my publishing credits.

My work at church led me to meet Nancy I. Sanders, an author of over 75 books. She became a friend and mentor, and was instrumental in recommending me to several editors along the way. I also joined her critique groups and learned a lot to help in my writing journey.

In 2007 one of my critique groups, the Wordsmiths, held a Book in a Month Challenge. We were to target a publisher, study their list, and then write a book based on that information all in one month. I took the challenge and, long story short, I will be having a non-fiction children’s book published by Pelican Publishing Company in the Spring of 2010.