I grew up on a farm in British Columbia, Canada.The thing is, I HATED it.
I wanted to be a writer and illustrator since the time I was old enough to know what those two things were. However, my dad was determined that I follow in his footsteps and become a farmer. He always giving me disgusting chores (like cleaning the chicken coop), but my head was always in the clouds, dreaming up some new story.
At last, when I was ten years old, my dad decided that enough was enough--he was going to indoctrinate me into the ways of farmerhood once and for all. How? By teaching me how to drive the tractor.
Now my dad always liked to do things the hardway. He just didn't put me on the tractor. First he hooked up a trailer loaded with 60 lb. bags of fertilizer. Somehow I was supposed to drive this tractor and trailer down the narrow rows of the orchard without hitting anything. Now, I am NOT very mechanically inclined and pretty much the first thing I did was mow over the old wooden outhouse we had standing in our orchard. It came crashing down like the walls of Jericho; there was nothing left of it except a pile of sticks.
Well my dad was furious. And he never let me drive the tractor again...which was just fine with me. Because that meant I could spend even more time writing and illustrating my stories.
Now I write and illustrate books for children. My latest book is Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers. You can find out more about my work at my web site, www.leefodi.com. |
