Patron Larry Fronk on his Fantastical Children’s Book
Patron Larry Fronk wrote a gnome-filled children’s book for his granddaughter—and the library helped inspire him to create it!
At the time of the interview, Ezra and the Magic Flower Lamp was still a work in progress. But Larry Fronk, who moved to Cold Spring from Clermont County two and half years ago, flipped through the drafted version proudly. He planned to gift the final version to his granddaughter, Ezra, for her first birthday.
“My daughter had a baby on Dec. 27 (in 2023). Lots of fun. In the nursery, she had on the windowsill a gnome, a flower and a mushroom,” Fronk said. “She said, ‘Dad, can you write Ezra a story based on that?'”
From there, Fronk came up with the idea to have a young gnome girl searching for a magic flower light. For the initial print, he created collage images to accompany the text. Ultimately, Fronk hopes to find an illustrator.
Fronk isn’t new to writing based on prompts like the one his daughter gave. In fact, he’s a regular submitter to Writer’s Block, an email-based program sent out every month by Adult/Teen Services Programmer Danielle Heiert.
The prompts are meant to spark creativity and get your pen flowing (or keyboard typing). Participants are welcome to share their work with Danielle or simply let her know that they participated that month. All you have to do to sign up is email Danielle at dheiert@cc-pl.org and let her know you’re interested in Writer’s Block.
“Prompts are good because it pushes you to think about something and play around within your head and come up with a story idea,” says Fronk. “I’ve enjoyed those. There’s been some really fun prompts.”
Later in the interview, Fronk pulls out a binder and flips through his writings, pointing out some of his favorites that stemmed from a prompt. In one story, a woman awakes to strange plants in her garden. In another, the main character gets covered in hot, foamy coffee and becomes the center of attention. Yet another delves into a time-traveling murder mystery.
“I retired when I was 61 and still lived in Clermont County,” says Fronk. “Like Kentucky, if you’re a senior, you can take audit classes. I took a creative writing class at UC Clermont. I was probably never so nervous about walking into a room in my life.”
Despite sharing the classroom with mostly 18 and 19-year-olds, Fronk says that the class was great and the professor encouraged him to continue writing. One of his short stories, “Bad Soldiers,” went on to be published on the online journal The Writing Disorder in Spring 2016.
As for Ezra and the Magic Flower Lamp, Fronk can’t wait to have his granddaughter grow up alongside the book. And his daughter? She loves it.
“I never thought that I’d be where I am now,” Fronk said. “Never thought I’d ever have anything published, not in my dreams.”
Along with Writer’s Block, the Cold Spring Branch offers the Rough Draft Collab Writer’s Club. The club meets every month and is led by local author CherieDawn Haas. The next meeting of the Rough Draft Collab Writer’s Club is held on Jan. 14 at 6:30 pm.
More News
Follow Us!
JC Morgan, our former library director, donated items for Cam Cares on behalf of the Kiwanis Club of Campbell County! Tomorrow is the last day you can drop off clean pairs of socks and underwear in their original packaging. 🧦
0 CommentsComment on Facebook