Hey everybody! Today I’m going to talk a little bit more about the picture books I’m writing, all of which are about fear and anxiety!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve always been told to “write what I know.” And while I know a LOT about anxiety from the experiences I discussed earlier this month, I also happen to know a lot about animals! As a former veterinary technician and pre-veterinary major, I’ve studied a variety of animals and their behaviors over the past fifteen years. The most interesting thing I’ve learned is the fact that animals have different ways of coping with anxiety. While some animals are prone to fight their predators, others will run away just as fast as they can. Some critters, like armadillos, will freeze when they’re scared. And others, like opossums, will faint out of fear.
As a person with anxiety, I respond to fear in many of these very same ways. In fact, most people do! Reactions like this are completely natural. But even so, some kids are led to believe that anxiety is a flaw, and that fear is something to be ashamed of. This is why I have decided to write picture books about ways in which animals respond to fear in the wild. By highlighting various methods that animals use to cope with anxiety, my stories demonstrate the fact that fear is a natural phenomenon that everyone (and everything!) can experience from time to time.
While I am still editing the first three books in my series, I’ve got some new ideas brewing that I look forward to sharing with you soon. Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, thank you for taking the time to read my post!
