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I'm thinking about the possibilities of using Etsy as a venue for self-publishing.

Years ago, I was telling Linda Van Blaricom about how I explained God to my children. You know those questions: What does God look like? How can God be everywhere at once? How can God be inside me and outside of me at the same time? Questions from my stepdaughter Melissa forced me to find a way to articulate what I believe in terms that a child could grasp. I struggled to find a metaphor that would connect with her. I told her God is like a string. And I developed the concept more as each child in our household reached that questioning age.

So, anyway, when I was telling Linda about my metaphor, she said, "Denise, that's a children's book! You have to write it down and get it published." So I tried. I wrote it in prose, then decided it needed to be a rhyme. I worked hard to express the ideas in easily illustratable images. I got feedback from writer friends. And I sent my little manuscript off to one publisher after another. It fell into a black hole.

Polly reassured me that my book could be. We could publish it privately, as her family did with Esther's Roses. Or, ultimately, we could post it on the Internet. If the goal was to share the story (as opposed to garnering cash), then why not the Internet? Still, it has sat around in my home office for more years with nothing happening to it. Ripening, I guess.

Yesterday it occurred to me: I have a printer. I have a binder. I can make the book myself. And I have an avenue for selling it. I think I'm going to try it. That will be my New Year's project. I will send my little story out into the Universe and see what happens.