My name is Virginia Alice Schreckengast. This is my story, and the story of The Whales, Willy West and Windy Waves. When I was five years old my family moved to Kerland Drive in Wright City MO. It was a small house - but it was home. "It was here that I received a toy whale, that quickly became my favorite bath time toy." When I was seven I remember coloring in a coloring book when my mom noticed
how well I stayed in the lines. She ask me what color each crayon was and I knew them all. She said, "Good, at least you're not color blind". Then she gave me some paper, and ask me to complete a picture she provided. She said, "Follow the line on the picture with your eyes and move your hand as it curves." I did as she asked and by the time I finished, the picture I drew looked like the picture that inspired my work. I had found a new passion. I loved everything about drawing, and I started drawing my Whale. About this time I also started watching a movie called "Moby Dick the great White Whale." I was fascinated with whales, especially my bath tub toy. Nov. 16, 1987 I sat down and drew the best drawing I had done so far. I now drew two Whales, I was at my drawing table facing North, one Whale to my left (West) oh...Willy West...wow. Now for the female, It just came to me Windy Wave (as I was looking at the waves I drew, and thinking about the wind) could it be this easy. The Whales would be there last name. I wanted them to be White Whales, because of my love for the movie Moby Dick the Great White Whale. In 1989 I copyrighted The Whales; Willy West, and Windy Waves. I wasn't sure what to do with them, but they felt special to me. I filed them away until I felt they were ready for the world. About 1993, I got into Arts and Crafts and made wire line ribbons. I told customers that I was going to put out a book. That was a long process, but I did get the book printed and sold it at craft shows. My book showed enough hair styles to last a month. This publishing process was teaching me how to do things on my own. To make a long story shorter, fast forward to 2020 when I was looking at my old Whales drawing. I knew that the only way to get this out there was to do this myself. Now I had to come up with what type of whale my drawing would be. I searched "white whales" and only Beluga Whales came up. They live in colder waters and near Glaciers, which matched the mountains I drew. I was all set to bring this story to life the story of Beluga Whales with Glaciers in the background. In December 2021 I wrote an outline for my book "The Adventures of Willy West and Windy Waves" I started researching everything to get this project moving; Media, Writers, Production, Plush Toys, and so on. I got on the phone and talked to people. I talked to my bank about financing. They told me to come up with a five year plan, and I did. I decided not to take out a loan yet, as I wanted to try this without a loan to start. I found Wovenart.net, who could make my woven throw blankets to order, and I was ecstatic. My work was coming to life! I could get a child's name stitched on a personalized blanket. I had a new poem in my head that was better than the one I had written years earlier. I will eventually take out a loan to launch more products, and publish my Whales books; "The Adventures of Willy West and Windy Waves" using the same printer who printed my hairstyle book "Hair-Bands by Gini for that whole new look" so many years ago. Thanks for reading my story. My Whales have been my friends for many years, even when they existed only in my imagination. I'm excited to share them with the world.
