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Pooka Pages. E-Magazine for Kids
Sometime around 2010 (maybe a little sooner) I found a place for myself creating craft projects for kids. I was navigating a desire for acceptance and belonging within my new faith -along an earth-based spiritual path.
Pooka Pages was started by Lora, an amazing woman (who, sadly, passed a few years ago). She started out with simple stories and recipes and soon added in other contributors from around the world, including myself.
Her e-magazine gave me an opportunity to showcase my crafts and a name for myself. Back then, I was known as Rayne Storm. (Later, my sons would help me add a middle name, Anna. Rayne Anna Storm.)
Inspired to do more, I established my own website. From there I was able to create beyond just crafts for Pooka Pages. I could, and would, go on to create printables of various creations, that others could download for free, from my site.
Printables: English * Dutch * Swedish
I attempted various types of printables for my site, from weekly packets... to seasonal packets... to "collectable" pages, for children, to build their own BOS, or similar.
By 2011, I was offering printable pages, packets, activities for kids, in multiple languages. I collaborated with Evelien in Holland, to help translate copies into Dutch. Soon after, I worked with (*) to translate copies into Swedish.
Unfortunately, a few years back, with all the chaos and changes that happened. Much of those original files were lost. The back up drive turned out to be an external hard drive and every time I saved new files, I was actually overriding the preexisting ones. (UGH!) I am trying to find what was not lost, so that I can eventually make them available online again - FREE to download. In addition, I am hoping to find the BOS Binder file, and "Stepping Stone" e-workbook file too, if I can.
2012 - 2013 Schiffer Publishing
The large collection of printables I had made available on my site, helped me immensely when I started looking for a publisher. It was suggested to me to just try, but I figured that I was a nobody and would never get anywhere with them. Afterall in the past, I had been rejected countless times. But this time was different, this time I had a foundation of printable pages to stand on.
I signed on with Schiffer Publishing and released my first book, "Everyday Magick for Children" in the spring of 2012. Followed by "Elemental Tarot for Kids" in the Fall of 2012. In the fall of 2013 I released, "In the Night Sky" an Astrological Zodiac for children.
I actually had three more contracts with Schiffer, but they cancelled those contracts before they were started. The company decided to go in a different direction. While I was disappointed, I understood. To this day, I am still grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them.
It was a great learning experience and provided some much-needed confidence in my abilities. I truly enjoyed doing book signings and meeting people. A special Thank You to the St. Lawrence Bookstore (St. Lawrence University/ Canton NY) for carrying my books and letting me hold book signings there -as a very new author, in a new age genre.
2014 -2016 LUV-2-LRN Publishing
Only temporarily phased by the loss of my publishing company, I created my own, LUV-2-LRN (Love to Learn) Publishing.
The first workbook I published was Learning How to Read and Write "Runic Script". It is the first English-transliteration of its kind, that I know of. It was a glue bound workbook with paper spine. It was a very popular seller at the Holistic and Pagan events I attended.
After that, I published two more Norse workbooks for kids, "Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds: In the Beginning... (I) and ...Ragnarok (II)". However, having received some feedback about the paperbound workbooks, these newer workbooks were spiral bound (thanks to the help of a wonderful little binding machine I own). In the end though, these two workbooks were more popular as e-workbook downloads.
All three e-workbooks are available in my shop, if you are interested.
After the productive rollercoaster ride that would be the last 6 to 7 years... sadly, it all came to a halt. I had to make some very hard decisions, making some very significant changes to my life.
My books, my writing, my art, my sketches.... all of it, was put on hold.
Under Glass. 2019. Hand Sketched -Digitally Colored
Thankfully, this productive era ends, not on pause but on play. Playing with art again, playing with words... trying to figure out who I was, that I had forgotten.
The last few years had been very stressful for me, I had felt trapped and suffocating in my marriage. I felt chained to my position as a mom and wife. And it was, in a sense... killing me. Until finally, having had enough, I packed up and left.
The path I first took, didn't lead me to greener grass, it was more like jumping from one frying pan into another... before jumping out and finding myself unable to gain ground - stumbling over my many mistakes all the way to the bottom. Rock Bottom.
As they say, "You can only go up from here."
Under Glass is one of the first real pieces I did, while trying to figure out how I was going to fix the predicament I was in. It made me realize where I was -mentally... and the need to break free and fly. Fly away.