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A Village That Wouldn't Stop Growing
Every time Christine Simpson showed her little animal paintings to her two best friends, they told her the same thing: these belong in a book.
She resisted. It seemed daunting. Then one day she decided to just start writing and see where it went.
"Well, an entire village with dozens of quirky villagers came alive! The more I wrote, the more ideas came flowing."
That village is Prickleberry Hollow. Christine has now published three books in the series, plus a Prickleberry coloring book, and she's racing to finish the fourth in time for Christmas.
Meet Christine
Christine was born and raised in Germany and moved to the United States after meeting her American husband. Together they raised four sons, who are now grown.
"Ever since I was a little girl, my dream was to write a book. However, working fulltime in real estate and raising four kids didn't allow me any time to do that."
Four years ago, she left what she calls the rat race and retired. She went back to something she hadn't had time for in years: painting. Little animals, mostly. And that's where her friends came in.
Welcome to Prickleberry Hollow
Tales from Prickleberry Hollow follows Harry Bunkins, a 10-year-old rabbit, and his friends Cheddar McMouse, Jasper Honeywell, Rocky Raccoon, Sammy Squirrel, and Norbert and Nibbles Nutmeg. The stories are about everyday life in a close-knit village where everybody knows everybody, and things don't always go as planned.
"My goal was to get young children away from the constant noise they are exposed to and immerse them into a gentle, wholesome environment with lovable characters they can identify with while teaching gentle life lessons without being heavy-handed."
Family, friendship, forgiveness, community. Christine weaves in childhood traditions and experiences of her own, and hopes kids will laugh out loud at the villagers' mishaps.
"I would absolutely love it if children told their parents/grandparents that they can't wait to read another chapter."
Using AI to illustrate her stories
Christine illustrated her first book herself, and friends and family liked the result. The trouble was arithmetic.
"I had so many ideas for new stories that I couldn't imagine how long it would take me to illustrate them all myself."
Her former boss mentioned he was using AI for his advertising campaigns and suggested she try ChatGPT. It had never occurred to her. At first she thought it was great. Then she noticed something.
"I realized that the characters kept changing every time I generated a new image with ChatGPT."
She kept researching and tried Adobe Firefly. She liked the look, but it didn't give her the consistent characters she needed either.
For a series with seven recurring main characters, consistency is the job!
"It's absolutely crucial for an illustrated book. Especially kids who notice every little detail would certainly know if their favorite character suddenly changed facial features or was wearing different clothes."
When she found Neolemon, that was the thing that clicked.
"Then I came across Neolemon and my problem was solved! Characters stayed the same and it was so easy to use. I didn't want a big learning curve so Neolemon was the perfect match."
Her priority was the writing, not learning software.
"Yes, That's How I Envisioned It"
Ask Christine what she enjoys most and it isn't a feature. It's a feeling.
"The thing I enjoy the most about the creative process with Neolemon is the excitement I feel waiting for the image to appear and going 'Yes, that's how I envisioned it!'"
She's also taken the characters somewhere new. Using Neolemon's Coloring Book feature, she turned Prickleberry Hollow into line art and published a coloring book, so young readers can color in the villagers they already love.
The First Copy
"I couldn't believe how well it turned out when I received the first copy of my book! It looked so professional and I've had several people comment on how great the illustrations look."
For Christine, the part that matters most isn't that the pictures look polished. It's that they look like her characters.
"I'm very attached to each character and had a certain vision for them. I wanted their individual personalities to come through via the illustrations, and Neolemon has made that possible."
You can find the Prickleberry Hollow books at LilCricketBooks.com.
What Christine's Story Shows
Christine waited decades to write her first book. Once she started, the problem flipped completely: she had more stories than she had time to illustrate. Her answer was to protect what mattered most to her, the writing and the characters, and to let nothing drift that a sharp-eyed young reader might notice.
Ready to Start Your Own Story?
If you've got a world of characters waiting to come to life, Neolemon is a good place to begin. Create your characters once, keep them looking like themselves in every scene, and spend your time on the stories.
