Julia A. Keirns

I was born in a small town in Northwest Ohio and grew up on a small 80-acre farm. The youngest child, I was the tomboy who wanted to be out in the barn with dad or riding on the tractor with him. I was always surrounded by animals including cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, dogs, cats, and we even raised canaries for a time. I climbed a lot of trees and spent all my time outside.

I was a big reader and bought tons of books from Scholastic at school. I remember reading a lot of Little Golden Books when I was younger. My favorite one was “When I Grow Up” by Isle-Margret Vogel. I remember thinking to myself, “I could write that.”

The first story I wrote and illustrated myself was called “Horatio, the Haunted Horseman” when I was 9 years old in the third grade. We had a writing contest, and I won an award at school for it. It is lost now and that is the one thing I wish I still had. I do have notebooks filled with stories, poems, and short prose from all those years of growing up. Every once in a while, I get them out and read through them. Sometimes I will get an idea from one of them for something new.

Well, my dream of becoming a writer has come true, so the only one I can really think of is that I wanted a Datsun 280z for my first car. I had a magazine picture of it taped on my bedroom wall. I was sorely disappointed when my dad allowed my older brother to get a new car and I was given his old car. It was a 1970 Dodge Dart, so it was a pretty cool car, but it wasn’t my dream car.

I have been writing ever since the third grade and so that family included my mom and dad, as well as my older sister, and two older brothers. No one ever really said much when I was growing up about me wanting to be a writer. I was just always in my room with a notebook and pen. I was most content being alone and writing. I did keep my writing to myself a lot when growing up and never wanted to share it with anyone. I was afraid they would laugh at what I wrote.

Today my family still includes my mom, sister and brothers, as well as a husband of 35 years, three grown children and their significant others along with 5 grandchildren. They are all supportive of my writing, but no one really makes a big deal about it. It is just normal for them. The biggest step I ever took was openly sharing my writing with the world. So far, so good.

This one came about when I came home from a fall apple festival in our local county one year. I wrote an editorial for the local newspaper about how wonderful the festival was and that as a community we should continue to support it. One day several months later, when I came across that editorial and reread it, I was in the children’s book mode, and it just kind of came to me. I believe that story was written entirely in just one afternoon.

I have discovered that children, and parents as well, seem to enjoy rhythm and rhyme the most when reading a story. It needs to make sense to both age groups, and it needs to flow well. Children enjoy looking at the illustrations and pictures, and mom and dad want the sentences to be short so they can turn the pages quickly. Additionally, it can be challenging to come up with a beginning, a middle, and an end in so few words.

Right now, college is consuming most of my writing time. I am currently working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing and English, enrolled full-time. I am a little over half-way there. I am spending a lot of time practicing my illustrations and drawing and painting, and I do work a full-time job at a local DME company during the day.

My Friend George has not received any public reviews yet, but the best review for me was when the grandkids read it and liked it. After all, to see a child read a story and like it is the best review a children’s book author can get.

That is a hard question to answer. Sometimes an idea just hits me, and I have to get it written down on paper as quickly as I can before it is gone. So, it begins with the idea. Then the characters and plot usually get tweaked along the way.

I am not famous or well-known by any means, but it is a wonderful feeling of fulfillment for me to see my name as the author, whether that be on an article, a poem, or a book.

As a child it was a huge dream. I believe it was harder to become an accomplished writer 50 years ago. Today we have the Internet, and anyone can be a writer. Being a writer is all I have ever wanted to be known as. Now I am, and it does not make me any different than I was before. I am still the same person and still have so much more to say. I will write until the day I die.

I do leave book reviews for other authors, on Amazon especially. I have a Kindle Unlimited Account and download and read a lot of other children’s books similar to what I am writing. I feel it is important to encourage writers. The reviews mean a lot more to us than people realize. Knowing that something we wrote meant something to someone or had an impact on them in some way is the best compliment a writer can get.

Oh, my goodness, tons and tons. I have recently finished a book about a small puppy who is always cold in the barn and can always be found under the heat lamp. An older couple comes to the barn and chooses him to take home. Their house is warm. He enjoys laying by the fireplace and cuddling up in the warm blankets on their laps. He is never cold and loves his new home. I am working on the illustrations.

I joined AllAuthor in November 2020 and have been very pleased with the services. I especially love the banners and ads I can create and use anywhere. I love the exposure. I hope to be here for the long haul.