Juneau resident Meilani Schijvens loves to read and hike. When her two sons were young, she wanted to spend the summer hiking with them. But, her kids had other ideas. They wanted her to read to them all through the long days. So, she hatched a plan to make everyone happy.<\/p>\n
“I thought, I can fix this. I’ll tell a story while hiking. Then, I told the story with cliffhangers,” she said.<\/p>\n
The story Schijvens told her kids that that summer has turned into a novel titled “Mapmaker’s Mistake,” which was published late last year and is now available for sale.<\/p>\n
“That summer was seven years ago. It took five years to find the time to write it down and two years to write the book,” she explained. “It’s been so wonderful. It was really the most lovely thing about 2020,” she added.<\/p>\n
Aimed at readers ages nine to 12, the story features a 13-year old heroine who embarks on a sword-fighting adventure to save her kingdom.<\/p>\n
Good as Goade: a Q&A with Southeast’s recent Caldecott Medal winner<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n “It’s got a heroine, but it’s really written for young boys,” she said. “In the end, she saves herself and the kingdom.”<\/p>\n Schijvens explained that writing the book was a family affair.<\/p>\n “The kids helped me edit it and made sure the young teens in the book sounded like young teens. They were brutal with the dialogue,” she said. “The kids are really proud of it. They love it. They feel like their contribution made it better.”<\/p>\n Tapping Juneau’s creative community<\/strong><\/p>\n Juneau’s full spectrum of artistic talent is on display in the book. Schijvens decided to pursue independent publishing options to give her more control of the process.<\/p>\n “There’s so much talent in Juneau. I thought about publishing it outside, but there’s so much incredible, local talent for art and literature. I wanted to tap into that local talent,” she said.<\/p>\n Readers will see the work of local artists Glen Fairchild, who did the cover art, and Kirsten Shelton, who created the chapter heading drawings. James Alborough created a website — mapmakersmistake.com<\/a> — and Charles Westmoreland served as editor for the book.<\/p>\n “The book is a celebration of all the talent that’s here,” she said.<\/p>\n On the Trails: Focusing on light and points of delight<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n