by Alison Shepard

One day after waking up from a nap, the entire story layout for Millie the Monarch came to me.  I wasn't trying to make it, I was still half asleep.  The plot and the characters seemed to just pour out of me, and I grabbed a pen and began quickly jotting them down in my notebook.  It felt like a gift from God. 

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But like many of us who have dreams, I buried Millie for a while. I sat on the idea and didn't do anything with it.  That notebook with the plot and the characters sat in a box for almost two years.  Then one day, I knew I had to get it out and do something with it.  It had been given to me by God as a gift, and I knew I needed to steward what I'd been given. 

Writing Millie was in some ways, the easy part, I already had the plot and the characters.  The illustrations for Millie, however, took quite a long time.  Each page of Millie is an original oil painting and a work of art.  It was a labor of love, and though it was a lot of hard work, making Millie was an honor and a joy!  I hope that all who read Millie will be inspired to believe you can fulfill your destiny because "the One who has made you put inside you the key."