Inspired by events and people from her childhood, Claudia Hull started writing stories after making up campfire tales for her kids. She said her children called them, “stories from your head.”
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“My kids are the ones who got me to write my stories down,” said Hull. “We camped a lot as a family and brought a fair amount of books for our kids to read. After exhausting the book supply, I made up stories for them while sitting around the evening campfire. When my daughter started calling them ‘stories from your head,’ I started to write them down.”
Books she’s published so far are “Procrastimonsters!,” “Cock-a-Doodle NOT!,” “There’s A Peach In My Pocket” and “Granny Pockets.” They’re for readers ages 6 to 10 and available on Etsy (bit.ly/etsystoriesbyclaudia) and Amazon (bit.ly/peachinmypocket).
“Right now, Amazon is showing ‘out of stock.’ I’m working on building up supply,” said Hull.
She’s written a fifth book for one of her grandsons, titled “Cyrusaurus!,” but she’s unsure she wants to offer that one to the public. “Procrastimonsters!” is her favorite book that she’s written. About a boy named Josh who put off doing chores and schoolwork, a green “procrastimonster” grows daily on top of his head.
“It was written at 2 a.m. I have insomnia sometimes,” she said. “Later that morning, I got up, read what I wrote and liked it. I don’t have a set time of day to write. It’s pretty much when the imagination jumps up and says, ‘Write this down!’ I also think ‘Procrastimonsters!’ has a good message.”
In the research phase of her new book, Hull said it will be a chapter book this time.
“Depending on their reading level, appropriate for 7 to 12-year-olds,” she described it. “It is about a dragon who learns how to survive in different lands. I like to write children’s stories, because you can go anywhere in your imagination, be as silly as you want, and it keeps the kid in me happy,” she added.
Hull gives advice to those who might want to write children’s books.
“If you are thinking it would be fun to write your own children’s books, I say go for it. Start with something you know or relate to. Understand that you will most likely have to self-publish. It is difficult to get a publishing company to consider your work,” said Hull, who has worked with a small publishing company and also used a self-publishing platform.
When it comes to her creative process, she said it can take a while, depending on how all the pieces fall into place.
“It depends. If I think of a good topic, creating the story takes a few days. I need to then search for an illustrator. Next, the editing, choosing a font, page layout — so it could take several weeks to get it how I want,” she said.
Hull finds illustrators on a children’s illustrator site online, but that process can take time.
“The illustrators need to have software to create the art and then send electronically to me for approval,” she added. “It is not a quick process.”
She hopes her books bring joy and inspiration to people of all ages, not just children.
“I hope kids and adults are entertained,” she said. “We need more silliness and laughter. Maybe inspire someone to write down their ideas, stories and memories.”
Charleen Earley is a freelance writer and journalism professor at Foothill and Diablo Valley colleges. Reach her at [email protected] or 925-383-3072.
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