"Summer Turns To Fall"

It's a slow process, but it always seems to creep up on us and catch us unaware...what once was summer has quickly turned to fall.

We notice the shortness of the days, the cooling of the evening air and how the light becomes clearer...the colors of nature deeper, more vibrant.

And then without fanfare the leaves begin to turn, slowly at first, but soon the golds and reds of autumn begin to glow against the remaining greens of summer.

My first book "I Hear The Wind" takes place in autumn, but it has nothing to do with the changing of the colors or the beauty of the clear autumn sky, it centers on the mysterious sounds and sights of a turbulent windy night.

I remember having such a fascination

as a child with listening to the creaking and howling of the wind on nights like the one described in this book. Watching the trees as they twisted and turned, they seemed to come alive, the air is charged with the energy of the unrelenting wind.

Soon the air is filled with a thousand swirling leaves!! Tumbling and cartwheeling through the night air, past the streetlights and down the empty midnight streets!

I think it was the uncontrollable power of the wind that fascinated me the most. The untamed, raw power of nature, growing stronger...almost out of control!!! Rising and falling like and ocean wave, whispering to me low and lonely. Such is the power of an autumn wind!

Writing and illustrating "I Hear The Wind" was a labor of love, I had no idea whether or not anyone would ever want to publish such an unconventional children's book, but I felt like it was something I had to do. I was driven to see it get finished.

So now the season is upon us! Time to breath in the crisp autumn air, to see the beautiful fall colors and to sit around the bonfire on a still autumn night. But maybe you will awaken from your slumber to the sound of the howling wind as it rattles the windows and whistles past the chimney, just remember to close your eyes and listen...as the wind rushes on through the night!