About Dale-Marie Bryan

I was born with an extra creativity gene, I think. Most of the time, it has been a blessing but there were times, as a child, I felt restless, like a green caterpillar trapped inside my drab girl cocoon.

My mother must have sensed my need to create because she kept me supplied with coloring books, paint-by-numbers, and models of birds to build. For awhile that was fine and I stayed between the lines and fit  pieces together. But then she died and I didn’t feel like creating anything for awhile.

I’ve always loved to read. At five, I’d filled my lap with books and let the pictures tell me the stories. But I knew the lines below had meaning too and I cried because I couldn’t read them. I remember my excitement when the letters finally made sense and the words lined up into rich and wonderful sentences! Later, when I was sad, books allowed me to escape into new worlds where other kids had problems to solve, too.

One of my first “good reads” was Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. I loved the way Harold’s purple lines led him everywhere – to the forest, the desert, and even to the moon. Later, my pencil became my purple crayon and I’ve been following the lines it’s made ever since.

A book I loved when I got older was The Forgotten Door by Alexander Keys. It was about a boy from another world who fell through a door to Earth. A family helped him find his way back to it again. Books have always helped me find my way, too.

Who Am I?

I am

a wife,

a mother,

and a grandma,

an artist,

a dancer,

and a gardener,

a talker,

a teacher,

and a laugher.

I’ve driven a tractor and helped plant fields of waving wheat.

I’ve been chased by a cow and jumped over a rattlesnake.

I’ve fed baby calves and let them suck on my fingers.

I’ve had mice run up my leg and fall on my head.

I’ve tasted sun-warmed blackberries fresh off the vine.

I’ve bathed in a river so clear I could see my toes.

I’ve been inches from death three times.

I’ve lived over thirty million minutes

and still (thankfully) counting!

Represented by Lisa Gouldy- Corvisiero Literary Agency