Really, I majored in Architecture on the associates level, but with construction being what it is, lately, I have been redirecting my attention to my new book.  The manuscript was written years ago and pushed into a corner, forgotten due to more pressing matters at the time.  As the years went on and the manuscript resurfaced, I re-read it and felt it was worthy of publication.  I let two or three more years pass, thinking who I would get to illustrate my book and how was I going to pay them?  Finally, I decided to do the job myself.  By being both the illustrator and the author, I had more control over the finished work.  And so after one failed attempt at publishing "How Orples Came To Be" with hand illustrations, I finally got the book published in November 2011.   One year earlier, I obtained a Corel computer drawing program and used the hand drawn illustrations from the original book as subject matter for my Corel lessons.  Thus, the illustrations used in my printed book are what you see today and were acheived using Corel.  The story itself originated around 1986 after my father died.  In all honesty, I started off with a couple of little characters talking to each other as I tried to get a grip on my emotions resulting from Dad's passing.   As I added actions to the conversation, the book took on a new shape and much like the orples themselves, transformed from an effort in closure to an enjoyable book packed full of adventures and little lessons in life.  It  was really quite by accident that this book 'came to be' at all.  I'd never fancied myself a writer even though I have always used writing to search to my soul.   Since I've written this story, I've gotten many favorable reviews, mostly from friends who have read the prototypes I created along the way as the book was tweaked into reality.  My publishers have rated the book for 9-12 year olds, but I think anyone from 5 through adult will enjoy the storyline.  If you do read it and run into one of my blogs, please let me know how you liked the book.  Thank you and happy reading, Marcy C. King

I've not been around long enough to win any awards yet. Hopefully, that will change soon.