Joan Lorraine Zygmunt
I live in Connecticut, a short walk to the shore of Long Island Sound. There’s a view of a 19th century lighthouse with a dramatic history and the Long Island, NY, shore beyond, where the Great Gatsby might’ve yearned for Daisy. If there are elves in my garden, they should watch out for fugitive golf balls from the golf course in sight of my windows. I do have a stalking cat in my garden occasionally, but, unlike the one in the book, this one’s all black, without the white accents (where it lives is a mystery, but it seems to have nine lives, considering that coyotes are also around).
I’ve written non-fiction articles for publications, as well as a mystery novel/ghost story entitled, “The She-Wood”– under nom de plume “Raine Zygmunt”–about a real estate agent who becomes an amateur detective when her New-Ager client vanishes after she buys a house with rumors attached to it and moves in. Amazon.com : raine zygmunt the she-wood Sequels are in the works. Elfin Cottage is my first children’s picture book. I came across my first draft of it during the early days of the pandemic (while searching for something else on a back-up CD my son made of my older computer files). With the outside world all but closed down, I made a few changes to the poem, and then a sequel entered my head with characters who refused to go away, chatting with each other in free verse and becoming Elzmay’s Wish for Wings, which I hope to publish in the future.
I’m also an interior designer and a soft-sculptor. The story of Elfin Cottage came to be after I conceived of a soft-sculpture decorative element for a child’s room. In the continuing isolation of that first pandemic winter, I began creating a prototype. Elfred, Elzmay and Elvo became an even bigger part of my life as they and their cottage took shape from the scraps of materials I could find in my closets, cabinets and drawers. My plan is to make how-to patterns available, so that others can delight in both crafting and having an Elfin Cottage of their own to look at as they turn the pages of the book!