Linda Crew

My oldest son, the model for Robby Hummer. He has always been quick to point out, however, that the thoughts of the main character are really my thoughts, not his. I'm sure he's right about this, but I honestly was trying to tell the story from his point of view and show him I sympathized with the difficulty of living large as an only child until the age of six and then being presented with a sister and a brother!

He inspired me to write Nekomah Creek with two books he wrote for school, one entitled, "Son of a Nut" and the other called "Hectic Babies."

"My dad is a nut," one begins. "He goes crazy over Halloween and Christmas. He carves a lot of pumpkins at Halloween--maybe about fifteen..."

These and other anecdotes found their way into the Nekomah Creek books, which now serve for me as a sort of scrapbook of all the fun and hassles we had when the kids were little!

True confession: I share with the mom, Beth Hummer, a fanatical enjoyment of making costumes! (The twins were somewhat more persuadable than "Robby Hummer.")

I thought we looked particularly "Hummerish" in this picture!

Crew Family at the time the Nekomah Creek books were written

Several years later,"Buddy Wabbit" is more beloved than ever. Note the hand-stitched smile.

The grade school Thanksgiving play that inspired the opening of Nekomah Creek Christmas. My "Freddie" is the little ham on the left. Note that his grin is not because it was his mother taking the picture. Another mother was the photographer!