The Castle by the Stop Light
The Castle by the Stop Light began without me even knowing it one dark and rainy night in Swords, Co. Dublin. I was trying to figure out a bus schedule for the Swords Express with a friend when a short distance down the road I saw what looked like the stone walls of a castle at a stop light. I asked, “Was that a castle?” He glanced at it casually and confirmed it was. His affirmation made my American head spin! Something about the setting of an old castle nestled cozily at a stop light I just couldn’t shake. But it was time to leave, so I filed it away to see if I ever returned.
Less than a year later, I found myself back in Swords. I had done some research on the castle and as one does, I started to build fairy tales around the concept of the castle and was excited to make it my first stop. My first evening in Swords, I stood on the corner by the castle, taking it all in! Once more I was struck by the absolute rightness and yet incongruous placement by the stop light! I took out my phone and made a video panning between the ancient and the modern and found myself repeating the phrase “It’s a castle by a stop light!” Yes, my inner tourist was on FULL display, and I didn’t care! My imagination had been stoked and was starting to burn bright! In that moment, I knew there was a story here! The Castle by the Stop Light HAD to be written!
Exploring the Castle Grounds
Over the next couple of days, I was in and out of the castle grounds, exploring. As I climbed the steps to the Constable’s Tower, I was thrilled to see the large room at the top with windows looking out beyond the wall. In my imagination I could see a ruler standing there! Outside I wandered along the curtain walls and imagined people over the centuries, living day to day lives and the sounds of a living, breathing castle floating through my thoughts.
I wondered what it would be like to see the people of the past through the eyes of a modern child. In that moment, it solidified into a children’s book. I found myself asking the question that has been asked in countless times. If these walls could talk, what would they say? Immediately I understood the castle itself would tell its own stories! I wasn’t looking for historical characters who did mighty deeds but rather a fictional, ordinary person who lived a good and happy life. As I looked up at the corner of the castle I stood in, the wall somewhere between restored and crumbling and immediately saw the corner where my modern character would hear the stories. Tucked away, with a large tree giving shelter from tourists. I spent a lot of time in that corner taking pictures and just letting ideas tumble around in my mind.
Writing The Castle by the Stop Light
Back home, writing The Castle by the Stop Light became the goal! I saw a whole series of books with the Castle telling Michael (my modern character) all about the people who lived in and outside his walls! I was missing one more character, from the past. One cannot think of Ireland and not eventually think of sheep! Wool is an artform there! I had grown up with sheep myself. Write what you know! Finally, there was my love of Irish music, specifically the tin whistle. And so, Sean, the flute-playing shepherd boy, was born. The story formed under my pen and when I finished, I knew I had something great! Now I needed an illustrator.
Towards the end of that very year, I was introduced to a watercolor artist by a mutual friend. Genevieve and I sat down after she had read the story, and we discussed the style I was looking for. We combed through books looking at art styles and I could see in my head what I wanted while sketches started growing. Suddenly, I sat back looking at the two young boys she had sketched out in disbelief! Those were Michael and Sean! Somehow, she had reached into my mind and pulled out what I wanted and put it on paper!
A Wonderful Collaboration
A wonderful collaboration began at that moment and illustrator Genevieve Elise spent the winter and spring months making sketches and going over color palettes with me. One day we physically cut the story apart and taped the lines we wanted on each page with a sketch description below! That was our first draft of the book and made us both giddy with excitement.
Over the summer months, the illustrations began in earnest. At this point, I brought in a friend of mine who formats for self-publishing authors. Through conversations of what my goals were, we settled on Amazon KDP as the best way to self-publish. He created the cover art as well as the final lay out, working his own kind of magic in Adobe. When the illustrations were finished, Genevieve and I turned to the difficult task of accepting productive criticism for both the writing and illustrations through an editor and my publisher. Fortunately, that terrifying and yet edifying time passed with minimal scarring and ultimately, the book in our hands. When I received the draft copy of the book, my hands were shaking, and I had to fight back tears!
Book Launch
A month later was my book launch! I was surrounded by friends and even strangers as I read my book aloud. For me though, this wasn’t the end. There are more stories to be told by the Castle. My greatest hope is to bring my book to Ireland and share it with the people who have given me such a kind and warm welcome on every trip I have made there. The island of Ireland has given me so much in healing and joy, I want to give back and share my story with all of you!
(c) Catherine Bacik
Order your copy of The Shepherd Boy and His Flute: (Book 1 of The Castle by the Stop Light series) here.
And read more Writing & Me articles on Writing.ie here.
