Anastasia’s Rain is the story of six-year-old Anastasia Pickering (Pickles), her dog Rufus, a very wise fairy named Patience, and magical rain showers that appear each time Anastasia finds herself in a “pickle.”

I would like to invite you to join me in creating a story with your child using the characters in my book. My remaining four unpublished manuscripts include other characters as well, and I will describe them briefly. You may use them if you like or bring in your own character. Rain showers will fall when the characters find themselves in a “pickle,” and as they resolve the problem, the rain will fade, a twirl of Pickles’ umbrella will dry everyone, and a rainbow will appear in the distance.

Please use my book as your guide when working on your own story. Each story must have a beginning that introduces the characters and sets up the story, a middle that presents the problem, and an ending that resolves the problem.

Due to time constraints, I can only work with one child at a time. If you see a story in the works, please feel free to enjoy our process and let me know through a blog post of your interest in writing a story with your child.

Future characters:

Sarah is Pickles’ best friend. She is six years old. She has a Basset Hound named Cookie. She does not live in Pickles’ neighborhood but lives nearby.

Will is Pickles’ next-door neighbor and is also six years old. He has a Sheltie named Houston.

Eli, Will’s best friend, is also six years old. He lives in the same neighborhood as Will and Anastasia. So far, he does not have a dog.

Victoria is in Anastasia’s class at school and lives on a farm nearby. She has a horse (Chesapeake), two miniature horses (Dickon and Moonshadow), a miniature mule (Pedro), two barn cats (Woody and Sam), a pot-bellied pig(Eleanor), and a Labrador Retriever (Mr. Jackson).

Lexi is sixteen years old and works as a dog groomer on the weekends and two afternoons after school. She has a little brother, Alexander, who is five years old. They live near Victoria.

Each story must contain a lesson. You may choose your lesson. You may choose if you want a fairy or a sprite. That character always has the name of the lesson in the book. Example-Patience, the fairy in book one, teaches the lesson of patience.

You may choose the setting and even choose what you want the children to say to each other(dialogue). In other words, use your imagination to create another fun adventure for Pickles and Rufus!

Our goal: My goal is to help you create your own story with Pickles and Rufus. Your goal is to work with your child to make up his/her own story, then send your ideas to me, and we will put it all together. I will give you instructions for each step, and as we complete each phase, your story will be posted on my “story in progress” page.