MY DADDY AND ME (and another reminder to save old manuscripts!)

Twenty years ago, when my son was a toddler, I wrote a tender tribute to the love between a father and child, based on a couple of guys I knew.

I sold the manuscript, then called Papa’s Day, to an editor I’d worked with at a big publishing house. She left soon after, and the manuscript sat . . . And sat . . . And sat . . .

Five years passed with no visible signs of progress, so I requested and received the rights back. I submitted the manuscript to two houses, got two rejections, then tucked it into the dark recesses of my file cabinet.

Two years ago, I went hunting through my files to see if there was anything worth sharing with my agent, Jennifer Mattson of Andrea Brown Literary. I pulled out three possibilities, including—with my husband’s encouragement—the fatherly love story. Jennifer was really enthusiastic about Papa’s Day (not so much about the other two), and sent it out to a small group of editors.

Much to my surprise, the manuscript wound up getting three offers and going to auction. Two of the offers were for traditional picture books. The third, from Liza Baker at Cartwheel/Scholastic, was for a two-book deal in a padded board book format, which I accepted. I liked the idea of two books (My Mommy and Me comes out next year), and felt the format might be a way to diversify my publication list a bit.

I also appreciated Liza’s enthusiasm, her vision of showing a diverse array of fathers and children, and her commitment to finding just the right illustrator—which she did. I love Jane Massey’s work, and am so pleased with how the book came out.

You can read my interview with Jane, and enter to win a copy of the book, over at PictureBookBuilders.

The father who inspired the story is now gray haired, and the little toddler by his side is 22 years old and taller than his dad. But they still know how to have fun together.