STORYTELLER’S COTTAGE | Children’s Book Publishing “Tea & Tips” Class

“The Storyteller’s Cottage” is a fascinating place in many ways. It is a quaint Victorian house in the very charming town of Simsbury, CT. This is a paradise for book lovers of all ages since they host events and workshops of a wide variety. You can lock yourself inside one of their mystery/escape rooms and solve yourself out, or join a book club, talk to people who love good stories as much as you do. To summarize this, it is a whimsical meeting place, an enchanting cottage where dreams take shapes, and literature comes to life. Doesn’t it sound lovely? …we sure think so!

As New York cottage dwellers and storytelling enthusiasts, it was with great excitement that we took our first visit to their free event called “Tea & Tips: Secrets of Kid’s Publishing”. A casual meeting with 3 local Children’s books authors sharing their different journeys to become published. We thought it was a great idea since one of my goals this year is to have one of my own stories published. I promise you that we will share more of that journey as it takes shape.

If you already are in the field of writing books you know that it can be very overwhelming. It is a jungle out there knowing what to do, and what not to. The internet can be a good source seeking information, but also a place where you easily can get drowned among thousands and thousands of suggestions. It is something special, something that can’t be compared to Google searches (if you ask me), to meet and talk to real people face to face, hearing about how they made their dreams come true.

The authors we meet this evening where:

• Lana Bennett
• Amanda Bannikov
• Heidi Stemple

These 3 authors shared their different experience with a “book-hungry” group of people, I and my wife included. Questions after questions were being asked and answers after answer were being returned. My left hand was moving at rapid speed to put all the words down in my notebook. This stuff was GOLDEN. As exciting it was to listen to these authors, I also enjoyed to see the audience, imagine what kind of unread stories are boiling inside each one of them.

We both realize that there is more than one way to have your book published. After listening to these 3 authors, receiving great tips, talking to them in person, holding copies of their own books in our hands, I feel like the path towards my own dreams has been cleared out a bit more than it had before we entered this lovely meeting place. To receive this dose of useful information and hear stories that smell as good as the baked treats that suddenly are being placed only one arm’s length away from me, is a golden opportunity for anyone wanting to write. I realize one second later as I’m chewing the flavorful delight, that I am at least one arm length closer to my own stories’ transformation. From once upon a quick scribble to a fully baked book. Warm in my hands as I will hold it fresh from the press and smell the fragrance of the paper as it slowly cools down.

Before we leave we were getting spoiled with a private tour inside the house that is impeccably decorated. So much friendliness and creativity in one place make us wish we could transport our own cottage next door to this one, so we could be apart of this special community of creatives here in Simsbury, Connecticut.

Make sure to visit their webpage and if you live close to Hartford, why not take a look at their schedule and see if there is something that rings your bell. And, hey, if you are a writer, please don’t be a stranger. Let’s connect, we’re on this journey together!

Bye for now, and “Hej då allihopa!”

-Jonas LG Karlsson

P.S. Come along with us in this video on our YouTube channel where we chat on a winter’s drive through Connecticut about how seeing other’s living out their dreams, inspires us that ours can come true:

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