By Mary Owen
A grandmother from Ohio teamed with her 13-year-old granddaughter from Stayton to craft their first book. Bev Hughes and her granddaughter, Quinci Woodall collaborated in publishing Glimm: A Glimpse of Light Found in September.
“Quinci crafted all the illustrations,” Hughes said. “She was just 12 when she completed her illustration assignments. She has loved art since a 3-year-old and has won a couple of art awards from school and the Keizer Art Association.”
Available on Amazon.com, the book targets middle school readers and presents six adventure stories while “discovering light in oneself and coming of age,” Hughes said.
Hughes has written journals, poetry and stories since childhood, and has always dreamed of becoming a published author.
“Three years ago I wrote a story for each of my 13 grandchildren as their Christmas gifts,” she said. “I shared a couple of stories with my writing group, and a publisher asked to read more. He gave me the confidence to rewrite the stories with the target of middle school readers.”
Hughes said she wanted to write stories for youth that would be “challenging, enlightening and persuade them to look for the ‘light’ within themselves.” Glimm contains six of the stories, and Hughes plans to turn the remaining seven into a book, Glimm, Too, which she hopes to publish at the end of this year.
“It was a neat experience to work with my grandma,” Woodall said. “It definitely was challenging, but it was all worth it. I mostly have drawn for fun, so it was different to draw professional drawings for a book.”
Drawing for Woodall is a way to express her feelings while having some fun.
“I love nature and mostly draw animals, nature and people,” she said. “Many things in nature inspire my imagination to draw. I like going to museums to look at other people’s art as well.”
Hughes said she has gotten “very encouraging, supportive” responses from friends, family and her home community of Miami Valley.
“Quinci’s own school friends have been excited and supportive as well,” she said. “I have enjoyed three book readings and signings in Ohio, and now have a contact with my first bookstore in my hometown.
“Quinci and I together have had three readings and signings during my stay in Stayton. We both were quite excited about the enthusiasm of our public. Many of our readers have said they truly enjoyed the stories and couldn’t believe a pre-teen drew the illustrations.”
One 14-year-old said, “I was reading the ‘Underground’ story just before bed and decided I would save the last chapter for tomorrow because I was sleepy, but it was too exciting to put down. I had to read
it all!”
A 12-year-old reader said, “I was pretty scared when Sam was chasing Big Cat in the blizzard. I was afraid he’d die and I almost cried.”
“The book cover is especially beautiful, and I couldn’t be happier with it,” Hughes said. “Quinci drew the ‘mask’ of a cheetah for our leading story and the publisher’s graphic artist, Tonya Fourman, of Cincinnati, Ohio, brought the beautiful colors and sparkle to the covers. We will be submitting it for a book cover award in 2018.”
To view or purchase the book, go to Amazon.com books and plug in the title.
