The following article was submitted by Alyssa Schmidt, an author who will be reading her latest book at the Manitowoc Public Library.
In Fourth Grade, I dreamed of doing two things with my life: teaching and writing. After college, I started teaching and eventually split my career between teaching and working in the non-profit sector. After I had my son, Matthew, I left my job to be a stay-at-home-mom. Becoming an author had become a distant dream.
Once Matthew was in school all day and I was ready to go back to work, I considered what type of work I wanted to go back to. I struggled to find the right fit because I needed something that I was passionate about (that was the easy part) and something that worked for my family’s schedule (that was the not-so-easy part). I was floundering.
My best friend, John, had always loved my writing. He was a teacher, too, and had recently published a book. One day while we were talking on the phone, he encouraged me to pursue writing. He was confident I could find success. I laughed. It seemed like an impossible dream. A few weeks later I had an email from John’s publisher. He was interested in reading one of my stories. A short time after that I had a publishing contract for my story, Theodore Edward Makes a New Friend. Suddenly and very unexpectedly, I was fulfilling a childhood dream and becoming a published author!
Alyssa Schmidt
One of the most difficult parts of publishing was creating illustrations. That seems odd to say because I didn’t illustrate my story. The part I found to be most challenging was taking my ideas and helping someone else understand what I was trying to create. Thankfully the incredibly talented, Dean Konop, agreed to take on the illustration process. He is well known in our community for his caricature work. As I shared my notes, scribbles, and stick-figure drawings with Dean, he was able to make my characters come to life exactly as I had envisioned them. It was an honor to work with Dean. It goes without saying that he’s an amazing artist, but he’s also a kind, wonderful person.
The funny thing about my book is that I never meant to write it. When Matthew was very young I started telling him stories. His stuffed animals were the actors. The story of Theodore Edward and his unlikely friend, the blue T-Rex, was actually born out of a variety of stories I told Matthew when he was five-years old. Telling stories with his stuffed animals helped me to explain difficult concepts in a way that he could better understand. This particular story was meant to help him understand difficult things that were happening in our country at the time. What I wanted him to take away from our story time was this: love, kindness, and respect are for everyone.
I’ve always loved storytelling. Matthew is now almost eight years old and I still use storytelling and literature to help impart values and teach lessons. Stories are a beautiful way to communicate with children because in storytelling things that could never be true—like talking animals or toys that come to life—suddenly become absolutely possible and relatable to children. Stories allow us to experience every emotion possible. Connecting with characters helps build empathy and compassion. Stories allow us to expand our imaginations and connect to people and cultures we may never encounter otherwise. This is why I love story telling! It’s such a powerful tool when it comes to teaching and parenting.
I hope that you’ll be able to join me on Tuesday, October 18, at 6:30 PM in Manitowoc Public Library’s Balkansky Community Room when I’ll be reading Theodore Edward Makes a New Friend. Afterwards, I’ll answer questions and sign copies of my book, which I’ll have available for purchase if you don’t already have a copy.
