Just a Week Away!

Just a Week Away!

July 30, 2026  |  By Chris Noah

Just a week away! When I think about all the steps it took to get here, I'm overwhelmed!

August 6 we will actually launch! That means my book will be available on Amazon or even from my own hands. What a thought!

I remember my hand aching until I couldn't take it any longer and my eyes watering like looking through a window pane in the rain. I still can feel that sudden jerk upright at 2 A.M. as a perfect line of text ran through my head. And then, of course, I had to find a pen and paper. Quickly. These epic lines tend to vanish into thin air. Forget sleep.

There was the torturous learning curve of the computer. First Photoshop, then Illustrator, then finally In-Design, each a cantankerous old man who didn't like anything I presented him, but would talk to my husband. Who then broke it down for me. Again. And yet again. Until I got it. Only a few days later I'd be sheepishly asking again. Yes, it is that hard.

Every single detail of my extensive training in graphic art started coming back from - wait for it - 1968. Yes, you read that correctly. That's when I started in the publishing world as a graphic artist. There were only computers for typesetting, none for layout, and they were pretty primitive by today's standards. But I caught on fast and, amazingly, never really forgot an awful lot of it.

Doing my own illustrations for this book was sheer ecstasy even when difficult. As an artist, doing detail work with alcohol inks is insane, but it works. I love the depth of color you can get. So I used alcohol inks and watercolors, though not so much together in the same painting. More writer's cramp, but I didn't care. I'm looking forward to doing some more.

So that's a little bit of a look at the process. At least, at mine. Somebody else will have a different approach. Every bit of this four-year lovefest was great, amazing, joy-filled (most of the time) and I am so glad I did it! So if you have in mind to write a book, do it! Grab an idea and let it lead you by the hand.