PORTLAND, Maine — The work of a writer begins with a single idea, a flight of imagination that often starts with two simple words: "What if…"
Julie Falatko, a children's book author who lives in South Portland, is rarely lacking for ideas. In a single month, she’ll come up with hundreds of them.
“I feel like I walk out in the world, and I see animals,” she says, laughing as she interrupted herself with a confession. “I have a little bit of a problem with anthropomorphizing everything, which I’m sure is very annoying for everyone around me.”
Falatko’s newest book, “Help Wanted: One Rooster,” takes place on a farm looking to hire a particular bird. The story is accompanied by whimsical illustrations—the cow in charge of interviewing job applicants, for instance, is equipped with a clipboard—and it’s of course intended for young readers, but Falatko admits that when she begins writing she’s mainly trying to entertain herself.
“If I can make myself laugh, then that is the ultimate goal," she said.