We have a guest this morning....Welcome Teddy O'Malley to Storywraps

Quote of the Day: 
                        "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."
                                            ~John Lennon


Who is Teddy O'Malley?

Teddy O'Malley was born in Saint Louis, Missouri.  She has traveled all over the U.S. and enjoys learning about new things and other cultures.  She has enjoyed studying Spanish, German and now Italian as well. She dreams of visiting a foreign country.  Teddy O'Malley has also worked as a nurse assistant, aiding the disabled and the elderly.  She was born October 16, 1989.  I am pleased to have her here on the blog this morning to tell you a little bit about herself.  I recently reviewed her book, "Tell Me How to Say Goodnight" and she was kind enough to donate a copy for our first GiveAway.  She was as excited to do the GiveAway as I was.   Here is the cover of that book just to jog your memory:

A wonderful bonus for being here this morning and reading this is that Teddy (and Amazon) are offering this ebook for free. Today is the last day, so when you're done here hurry on over and get yourself a copy.  Free is always great!


                               

Here's a bit about Teddy in her own words.....

I don't know if I was seven when I became a writer, but I was seven when I realized I was a writer. I was given a writing assignment by my third grade teacher Ms. Buckle. The class was told to write about a day at the beach. It could be real or fictional. I chose to make mine a fictional one, inspired by true invents. It started out mostly true and ended up with starfish doing cartwheels, because I realized the possibilities were endless. 

I had written a page and a half when the teacher told me that was enough and I needed to turn it in. But I didn't want to turn it in. My imagination had run away with pictures of a beach and starfish, and I just wanted to keep writing.

When I went home that day I found a slip of paper and a pencil that was lying around. They weren't the best materials, but I made do. I picked up the pencil and once again my imagination ran away. This time to a far away land with a little girl named Sarah who adopted a cat and taught her tricks. They lived together happily in a tree house. I no longer have the story, but I remember writing it as if it was yesterday. Probably because it was the day I realized I was a writer. 

I continued to write after that. I wrote nearly every day or, at least every time I had the chance. I learned how to type on the family computer and by the time I was ten I was working on my own series of chapter books. The things that inspired me ranged from every day events that I could turn into something else to my pets who I often named my characters after. 

As I got older I would often write stories about my friends and classmates. Sometimes I would change the personalities. Sometimes I would change only their names. I would put together books by stapling notebook papers together or making a PowerPoint file and printing it. I would show the books around and read them to younger children. Their encouragement and love of my books inspired me to continue writing. 

My Comments:

You're never too young to realize your gift that is planted deep inside of you.  Whether you are a writer, an artist,  a musician, a business person or a great mom or dad....all these things take talent and a determination to develop and mature those precious gifts.  Along your journey of life it is wonderful that you cross paths with people who inspire and encourage those "seeds of greatness" inside of you and cheer you on to continue to grow.  As teachers, parents or friends be the one to speak up and walk along side that budding talent and speak positive, reassuring words of hope into their minds and hearts.  If more cheerleaders were in the world what a wonderful world it would be, nurturing and uplifting the ones around us inspiring them to reach their potential.   I want to personally thank Teddy for her contribution this morning and encourage her to keep on creating. She is a breath of fresh air and I am always humbled and honoured to showcase such talent here.  She has written other books which you can learn about on her website:  
                                                   
                                                       http://teddyomalle.weebly.com

Her latest book is "Bristol's Big Wish" and I will be reviewing it soon.  I'd like you to meet the main character created by Teddy...  please meet Bristol....how cute is she? Just a little teaser for you

The cover for your viewing pleasure ....

Stay tuned for my review coming soon...

Read on and read always!  

        This guest post is just the beginning of many. (hopefully)  

If you would like to be a guest blogger please contract me here or by email "ideas2go@hotmail.com" and let's chat.  I would love to hear from you and give you a platform to tell us about yourself if you are an author or illustrator, have an idea about reading or a topic that is relevant to getting the word out concerning fabulous children's storybooks. You can review a favourite kid's book that you have come across and want to share with my readers too.  Think about it and go for it. Who knows what gifts and talents are hidden deep inside of you and are crying to get discovered.  Have a great day and love to hear from you soon about being my guest here on Storywraps.