The Lost Party on Kickstarter

I haven't been sleeping well lately.  I contribute this to a few things: a two-year old son who seems to be planking his sweet body across my pillows at all hours of the night; secondly, a rotund belly that houses that wild boys little sister; and third, but mostly, my own mind.  My mind is doing a slow jog around itself and here's what it pictures: My book tour.  I see an elementary school classroom full of scrubby little faces looking up eagerly at me as I read my children's book to them. Their darling hands act out the story with puppets I've brought along.  After we are done reading, we talk about art and writing and we make art and writing and then I leave their classroom with some of my shiny, new books. I don't purport that my book or book tour will change the world, but I do believe that all kids deserve to be a part of meaningful things, and I believe in the children's books that shaped my own world as child.

In the past few days, since I've launched my Kickstarter project to get my children's book published, this nightly fantasy has started to seem like it could actually be a reality, rather than a far-fetched someday.  I, quite honestly, am shocked and delighted by the amount of support that's already been shown to the project.  I feel an immense gratitude for platforms like Kickstarter.com. They offer a sense of democracy and ownership that can sometimes lack in the marketplace.  Thank you so very much to friends and strangers who have donated, supported along the way, passed the word along and believed in the project from the beginning. It really does make me beam across my whole face.  The funding is halfway there, but the project has been featured on the "Staff Picks" page and on the "Popular Projects" page on Kickstarter, so we hope to not lose momentum.   Please contact me with any questions, concerns, suggestions, etc...   Thank you and spread the word!  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ashmae/the-lost-party