Where It ALL Began…
One mid-December night in 2024, I was unable to sleep. I stared at the ceiling and marveled at how wide awake I felt. Then like most nights I went to my fort (really it was just the top bunk of my bed). All of the Christmas presents I had been stockpiling for my friends were wrapped neatly next to the mountains of books lying around and our two cats sprawled out on pillows and blankets up there. I scooted a cat off a cushion, grabbed my notebook and began to write.
It started off being all about my favorite animal - foxes! And then, well it sort of just… clicked! I had written the first ‘Unknown Paper’! But didn’t know it would be called that yet. Playing around with different titles was no help as I kept coming back to; “The Unknown Paper”! (“The Paper” just sounded too boring!) So, that night I stayed up until 3 AM finishing the first Unknown Paper.
The first paper truly needed improvement though! It had a long column with a funny story about a lady called “Mrs. Betty Potato” - LOL! Also, there were a couple of funny jokes, some weird facts and silly drawings to color. It was on 5 pieces of paper and had boxes drawn around the different subjects.
The next night, same thing - wide awake and ready to make another paper! But this time I started to get it figured out. I had a format and I had a name for the paper, so it was easier to write!
After a few nights like this, I shared the paper with my friends. Eventually, they seemed to understand that it wasn’t ending anytime soon. I was cranking out papers and they were interested in reading them. So, I had my first ‘subscribers’! - Thanks friends! ;-)
Once January came around, My mom had joined the UP club! She helped with writing jokes, weird facts and more! Also, my amazing artist friend, Jane, was creating comics for each issue and we were becoming more ‘known’!
Eventually… by issue #15, The Unknown Paper was in a local coffee shop; Kissing Rock Coffee in Gold Beach, Oregon. (Thank you Andrew and Christine!!!) By issue #30, it was in another coffee shop; First Chapter Coffee House (Thank you Rusty!) and we were then well in to fine-tuning our process for making, publishing and distributing a weekly newspaper!
Today, the readership of The Unknown Paper has grown incredibly well and we now have a website, and even have a subscriber in Canada!
Huge thanks to the family, friends and businesses who have helped to make The Unknown Paper happen. It’s been such a fun project and I’m learning SO MUCH from this adventure!
Original Handwritten Title for The Unknown Paper!
