Calee M. Lee

My husband inherited a first-generation hide-a-bed sofa that once belonged to his great-great grandfather. The steel springs have been covered by a series of reupholsterings and its current incarnation is a respectable cream, chosen not for its innate beauty, but because I could buy eight yards of fabric on the spot and rid our master bedroom of  the mauve velvet chosen sometime in the early eighties. It’s a lovely piece of antique furniture, but we rarely sit on it.  Strike that. We never sit on it.
The sofa is laundry central and even though I promised myself I would never be one of those mothers who lets the laundry pile up, I am.  And it may be the best thing that ever happened to me.

On March 30th, I found myself with an extra couple of hours before my mother was scheduled to bring my children home. I’d finished up my freelance projects for the week and looked at the pile of laundry located all of two feet from my desk. I posted a tweet, “I have 2 (unplanned for) hours until the kids come home. I know @lvanderkam would not approve, but I’m considering doing laundry.”

I didn’t need to wait for her reply. I knew the best way to spend those hours would not be folding clothes while watching Tivo’ed So You Think You Can Dance. As much as I love a good dance-off, TV and chores are for hours when my brain is done. Instead of completing one task, I started a new one—I began writing the children’s story I’d been telling for years.

Six months later, that book is available on Amazon. I’d never bothered writing the story because frankly, I didn’t think I had the time.  The Queen and the Cats is based on a story I heard while traveling in Cyprus a couple of years back. Our family (yes, we did 15 hours of flight time with a 2-year-old) had gone to visit friends and explore the country’s churches and monasteries. When we found an equal number of cats as monks, we asked around and heard that the present-day felines were descended from a ship load of cats sent by Saint Helena—Emperor Constantine’s mother—when she visited the island in the 4^th century.  She had found the population almost decimated and the churches infested with snakes. Cats were her ingenious solution and they’ve been a part of the religious landscape ever since.

Because I’m impatient and stubborn, I chose to take advantage of new technology, enlist an artist friend, and publish the book myself in print and ebook editions. We had always talked about having more stories like this available for our kids and so have planned a whole series of “princess-alternative” picture books focusing on great royal women from Christian history.

On another afternoon (when I wasn’t doing laundry) I realized if I was going to go through the hassle of developing a contract, learning how to make an ebook and figuring out how to market from my home office, I figured I might as well build a little company and do this for others. Xist Publishing was born, I now have 3 additional authors signed, and we’re planning on releasing nearly 20 books in 2012.

A month ago, I launched my book and it’s held on to the #1 spot on the Christian Children’s biography chart. Last night, I called our monthly cleaning service and requested they come more frequently.

I could have done laundry. Instead, I played with one dream and ended up making many more come true.

Note: this post appeared last week on Laura Vanderkam’s supremely helpful 168 Hours blog.  If you’ve ever wondered how to make more of your time, Laura’s book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
is THE book to read.

As much as I would like to pretend I’m a regular suburban mom with my fancy gym membership and the overzealous HOA, I’m a ranch girl at heart.

My parents whisked us out of the suburbs when I was seven and even though I attended a crowded high school in the middle of The OC, I still had to feed the pig before I left for class.

I loved ranch living. Not enough to do it for my family, but still, it was great. We rode horses. We climbed trees. And…we developed a relationship with animals that wasn’t necessarily the kind my school friends had. They took their dogs to the groomers. Ours took baths in the horse trough. A classmate mistook my sister’s pet goat for a dog (really!) and many could not believe that we ate food that previously had a name. In the ten years I lived on the ranch, we lost nearly as many cats to coyotes and while I mourned many of them, I developed a certain amount of perspective when it came to the loss of animal life.

This is one big lead up to a very concerning situation that is currently occurring in our back yard. Something is killing the praying mantis population. That something is white and furry and named Pangur Ban, and while I love the kitty, I am distraught over the loss of each big-eyed green bug.

If I would point to a book that has invaded my consciousness, slowly transforming my vision and my soul, it would be Annie Dillard’s  Pilgrim at Tinker Creek .  I can’t remember when I first read it, but every couple of months, I find myself in a garden or forest or the lawn of an abandoned Irish church and her words come to mind.  She writes of the mantis:

“In late summer I often see a winged adult stalking the insects that swarm about my porch light. Its body is a clear, warm green; its naked, triangular head can revolve uncannily, so that I often see one twist its head to gaze at me as it were over its shoulder” (56).

My son has about a dozen recognizable words. One of them is mantis.

We had watched one grow from a nymph the size of a lady bug. All summer, she glided up and down the growing sunflowers, her body growing as she captured gnats and aphids, small spiders and ants.  She grew into a lovely lithe creature and then I found her corpse beneath our dining room table.

Tonight I found our cat’s third victim, not yet dead, but wounded beyond repair.  As a child, Dillard watched newly hatched nymphs duel to the death in an elementary school mason jar. She remembers:

“I felt as though I myself should swallow the corpses, shutting my eyes and washing them down like jagged pills, so that all that life wouldn’t be lost” (57).

Every time I see a living mantis, something in me leaps with joy. They are vicious hunters, but their grace seems so wasted in the lifeless jumble of legs and antennae in my kitchen.

My daughter spent months convinced she would someday be an entomologist. We read hundreds of library books about bugs. I spent many hours listening to stories of her imaginary friend—an ant named Ben.  The bug phase is waning, but she still loves the creatures of our garden. In all the months that BUGS were the big topic of conversation, I made sure to include a little classic poetry amidst the talk of cocoon vs. chrysalis.  If you’re curious about what the great poets have to say about insects, you can save yourself hours of work and check out We Love BUGS: 31 Classic Insect Poems for Kids
, my edited collection. Also, several weeks ago, we found caterpillars and Audrey helped me put together a little story about them.  Caterpillars Don’t Check Email: An illustrated picture book for children is currently available on Amazon for only $.99.

Every time the cat kills a praying mantis, another takes its place. I didn’t think our 80 square foot green patch could sustain more than one, much less three.  Here’s hoping there is always one to greet us.

Photo credit: kakisky from morguefile.com
A few days before my book was set to launch on Amazon, someone asked me a question that made me stammer and stick my hands back in the quiche ingredients I was prepping. The quiche was fantastic, my answer—not so much.  After hearing my little elevator pitch about The Queen and the Cats, she basically asked “Why?”

Here is the answer I wish I could have given. Thankfully, as a writer I’m not known for thinking on my feet and most of the time, people understand when it takes me a few goes with a pen and paper to get my thoughts out

***

Plenty has been said about the damaging power of contemporary narratives on our daughters. From the earliest ages they strive to emulate The Princess, a figure set apart from her fellow citizens, allegedly the epitome of beauty, grace and good fortune. I don’t have a problem with a pair of strappy shoes or sparkly jewels but I have always been adamantly against any sub-culture that glorifies consumerism and elevates one play narrative above all others.  Don’t get me wrong: we have plenty of Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and Rapunzel in our home. But the dress-up box skews more butterfly/pirate/doctor/scientist than princess.

I know moms love their Disney. I know they love seeing their little girl embrace the stories of their childhoods. I do too. But I also know that while these stories are often good, there are plenty of other stories out there (of princesses and queens, nonetheless) that are great.

When my preschool daughter aspires to be a princess, I want her to know that along with the fancy dresses, also comes a great responsibility. Christian history has given us scores of women who were both strong and beautiful. They placed their trust in God above their thrones and worked to create a world where prayer was more valuable than silk.  These princesses—they used their titles and wealth and even their feminine grace to challenge all people to be better.

The Queen and the Cats: A Story of Saint Helena is just one of these stories. Nearly two thousand years ago, a woman traveled halfway around the known world in search of the greatest of treasures. Once it was found, she shared it, and came up with an ingenious solution to ensure the safety of children and their parents.  This is the type of woman I hope my daughter grows up to be. These are the stories I want to seep into her consciousness.

This is why I wrote The Queen and the Cats and hope to write many more of these stories for children. Stories are powerful things. They have a way of penetrating our hearts and perpetuating the beliefs that shape our lives.

The Queen of the Cats is available in paperback (for bedtime reading) from Amazon and is available in ebook format (for the doctor’s office, the school pick-up line and anywhere else all you have is a phone with the free app) from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Queen and the Cats doesn’t officially launch until September 14th but that hasn’t stopped the Internet.  The Kindle Version is available on Amazon Here and the Barnes & Noble Nook Version is available Here.

I really haven’t told anyone about the book yet so imagine my surprise when I saw this on Twitter:

@keithamassey Keith Massey

Writer @CaleeL brings us “Lives of the Saints 2.0″ magnaliadei.blogspot.com/2011/09/queen-…

3 Sep via web Favorite Retweet Reply

Here’s a bit from his review:

Just to show you that Hagiographa is no dead letter, Calee M. Lee takes an episode from the life of Saint Helena, and turns it into a delightful and beautiful children’s book. The Queen and the Cats: A Story of Saint Helena explores the arrival of the Empress to Cyprus with a piece of the True Cross, only to find the island so infested with poisonous snakes that people can’t safely enter the churches. The story is told through the eyes of a little girl. The illustrations by Turbo Qualls are warm and expressive.

This is starting to get exciting! I can’t wait for our official launch on September 14th–the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross–a perfect day to celebrate.

While you’re waiting for my book, I highly recommend you check out A Place of Brightness by Keith Massey–and not just because he wrote such a great review.  I downloaded the sample chapters of this spy thriller last weekend and couldn’t order the rest of the book fast enough. It’s that good. Check it out.

Don’t worry. I’m not about to start up a revival tent.

I am, however, less than a month away from the launch of my first book, The Queen and the Cats: A Story of Saint Helena.

I was inspired this evening by Amy Suardi of Frugal Mama who I found through Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom. (I could get into the details of how I found Meagan, but don’t worry, it ends with Kevin Bacon). Several posts down her blog, she linked to an old post called “Don’t Read This if You Want Your Life to Stay the Same” where she wrote:

What do you love, what do you need, what do you want?  Right now — write it down.  Then place it in a prominent place:  your door, your computer, or inform the world by telling your friends, sending it out by email, Twitter, or Facebook.

But watch out:  you might just get what you ask for.

This year has been one of transition and I’ve spent the last few months thinking deeply about what I want out of the next phase of life. Plans are taking shape and they’re big. Not everything is ready to be nailed to the front door, but universe, here are a few things I’m working towards:

• A Bookshelf of My Books
  They can have my name on the spine or my logo on the back cover. By October, there will be four. Year’s end will hopefully see 6.  Someone can do the math (Ikea Billy bookcases line one of our walls) but I intend to fill a shelf.
• Job Creation
  I’ll be writing my first royalty check to the talented Brenda Ponnay in about a month. I’m a firm believer in giving people fulfilling, meaningful work. I’d like to launch 6 more authors or illustrators in 2012 and hire an employee. Take that, recession.
• Private School for the Kids
  I am eternally greatful for the academic and spirtual foundation my husband and I both received in private, Christian elementary schools. Even though we live in one of the best public school districts in the nation, I’d like my writing related efforts to make private school for our children a financial possiblitity. (And if we choose to take advantage of the fantastic neighborhood public school, then that private school tuition will make paying for college that much easier).

I’m willing to plaster my goals on Twitter, Facebook and this nascent blog.  What about you?

I started a Blogger blog in 2004 to chronicle a month-long trip to Ireland. I started relying on blogs for a good percentage of my reading material somewhere in 2005 or so, starting with screenwriters and religion news. I didn’t get around to publishing my own blog until 2008, and then proceeded to lose the domain name a couple of years later. I am not a great blogger but I am an active consumer of online writing.
My name is Calee M. Lee. I will not let this domain lapse.