Relaunch AND Let’s Give the Snowmen a Cold Welcome and a Warm Chance!

The Snowman Crossing of Snowy Valley Road is the first book that I have written and illustrated. It was released on Amazon in November last year (2025), but it didn’t do what I hoped or expected (or anywhere close) in sales. Thankfully, I had some friends who immediately purchased the book when I told them about it, and I couldn’t be more appreciative that they did it to support me. That truly means the world to me! But, I would really, really love others, those who might know me and those who don’t, to find out about it, read it and love it – reading it and getting it.

Upon the first, and possibly, second readings of my book, my editor told me I had to simplify the story. She said that people wanted stories that are easy to read and understand… people did not want to have to figure out what was happening. I disagreed, but I did clean it up a little: making it a bit more direct and simple. I really didn’t like that – that was not the story that was supposed to be written. So, I went back in and confused things a little and added simple phrases or plays on situations. For those people who want a straightforward story, you may not be pleased with the book at all. It may seem extremely simple and silly. I don’t know. I can’t read it that way. While not exactly happy with my changes to the changes, my editor began to understand that while seemingly simply, the book is actually written in a slow-quick wit that SHOULD make you question what you read, and she began to appreciate the subtle complexity woven throughout. Even after editing at nauseum, my editor was thrilled about the layers that she still uncovered with each reading.

So be assured, the writing and illustrations in The Snowman Crossing of Snowy Valley Road were very intentional. The words and the grammar were carefully chosen and examined in the writing and editing processes. This is not a simple, one-level story. You have to slow down and take your time. Explore and discover it. I used to say that in writing, if you knew the rules, then you could break them. Now, I would say that IF you are going to break the rules, make sure you know: the rules, why they are important, and what breaking the rules does to the writing. In some instances, it can be grammatically correct using a comma before or after a word due to the emphasis that the writer is trying to convey. The placement of that comma can totally change the meaning of a sentence.

So read the book exactly as it was written. If you read something that doesn’t seem quite right, go back and see why it is or is not.

The Snowman Crossing of Snowy Valley Road

The Snowman Crossing of Snowy Valley Road is the first published book for Red Writing Wolfe Arts Studio and Christy Wolfe. For some reason there was great impetus to write and finish this book which is why it exists today. And maybe that is a Duh!, except that it isn’t.

I have lists and notes for books of fiction, children’s stories, non-fiction, journals and prompted books, and collections of stories and poems. The ideas for many of these books came long before I came across the snowmen buttons that had been stored away. Maybe the story developed because I was planning to design a t-shirt, not write a book. I am not sure. What I do know is that my snowmen wanted me to write the story, and that was a prompting I could not refuse.