T. Elvin Quill

T. Elvin Quill
Creating stories and pictures

Author's Statement
My book on Amazon
Recent sketches

Author's statement
     When we tell children that reading is important, that books are important, we have an obligation to give them books worth reading. When we unveil a stage, fabricate characters, and a create a plot, we need to remember that we must also hand over to them total freedom to think and imagine. And off they go.

     I deliberately avoid putting lessons or morals into my stories. But the fact is that stories are just not interesting to people unless they contain an element of the "Human Drama". And stories are not satisfying unless the characters change or overcome problems. How characters respond to situations is automatically a lesson. So if you go looking for them, you can extract lessons from my stories just like you can from any story, any text, any situation. I've even attempted and succeeded to extract morals from a cereal box ingredients list.

     When I'm creating stories I only mean them to be fun and imaginative. Mostly I am captivated by the very idea of something, and the story centers around that idea. Like the very idea:

of being confronted by your own boasting,

when obstinance becomes ridiculous,

of a unique response to conformity,

of when the 'hider' becomes the 'seeker',

of becoming a secret agent in your own bedtime preparation.
I hope children enjoy my books and that the stories stay with them throughout their lives and inspire them to make their own stories and their own lives.

Indy, the dog:
Five accidental adventures

The e-book, available on Kindle from Amazon,
has a foreword which I will include here:

A note to storytellers

     When our children were very young I made up dozens of little stories for them. Some of those were about the accidental adventures of a dog named Indy. These stories are more to the realistic side of the animal story spectrum. Indy doesn't dress up in people clothes, drive a car, or go to the moon. Indy can't talk to people or other animals. What happens to Indy are things that could actually happen to a dog.

     I've written some of these Indy stories down because they were both fun and useful. Once you understand the characters and formula you can make up your own stories about Indy at a moment's notice. There are always changes of the seasons, holidays, and new experiences for children that suggest new stories. Children can put Indy into those situations, or ask you to.

     Indy's world is a kind world. There is danger, but no malice. Bad happens by accident. Good happens through the actions of good people. That's Indy's world.

Recent sketch
In Barnes & Noble again to sketch people. Today everyone looked or turned the other way. So I drew what I think must have been their internal reaction to seeing someone with a sketchpad nearby.

Recent sketch
Apparently, in this galaxy, the invention of sneakers is unique to Earth.

Recent sketch
I just watched "Epic" (Blue Sky Studios, 2013) and I can't get it out of my pencil.

Recent sketch
I found a jar of seashells at a thrift shop. Time for some sketching.

All images and text are Copyright 2017 by T. Elvin Quill. All Rights Reserved. Neither all nor part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from T. Elvin Quill. Thank you.