Why 35 Years?

I wrote The Adventures of Kitt the Kid about 35 years ago, fresh out of college with my first job as an elementary school teacher. Using an electric typewriter that I had purchased as a teenager when working a summer job at Boscov’s, I sat down and hammered out the short, sweet manuscript. I was far from a typist and used about two fingers to do the typing.

The story, which was written in the “first person,” and had no title, was put in a folder and stuck in a drawer. Occasionally I’d get out the folder, read the story, do some editing, and think about getting it published…someday.

The book was always in the back of my mind. I can’t say I thought about it every day or even every week, but I did think about it. I even bought Publishing for Dummies, read it, and never went any further with it. The thought of getting an agent, mailing manuscripts to publishing houses, and waiting for replies froze me in my tracks. Back in the drawer went the folder.

It was about a year and a half ago that my cousin was in NYC from his home in California. Since I live about an hour from the City, I drove in to meet him. He’s written several books over the years, and I decided to talk to him about my book. He gave me the nudge I needed to get the book published. I came home from meeting with him and decided that I would get moving on this project. Can I say that the folder went back in the drawer? Yes, but not for long. Now it was front and center on my mind.

Next, my Mom came in to the picture. I had given her a gift subscription to the Reader’s Digest for Christmas. She was passing them on to me after she finished reading them. One day while leisurely looking at one, I saw an ad that was about self-publishing through LifeRich. I pulled out the folder with the manuscript, decided that the main character in the book needed a name, and that the book actually needed a title! The name “Kitt” came to me, along with the title The Adventures of Kitt the Kid, and the rest is history!