The Dancing Bee

Dear Friend, I am from Nashville, Tennessee, where I grew up in the 60's and 70's. I considered myself a child of the back-to-nature movement. John Denver, Carole King, and James Taylor were my favorite singers, and my dream was to become a doctor like my beloved father, and work on the side for the poor, and for endangered wildlife. But it was not to be. I graduated from Harpeth Hall a year ahead of the wonderful singer, Amy Grant, and went off to UVA, in Charlottesville, VA. I started as a Pre-med, but soon fell in love with their English Department - and my future husband. My life took off, and I put my creative writing dreams on the back burner. Eventually, after years of journaling about home life, raising three wonderful children, I came back to my first love: writing: but not until I had completed my BA in English from UVA in the 90's, and two Masters degrees from Regent University, in the 2000's. There's a story there. In the first decade of the new Millennium, my oldest son went off to college, and my two youngest children entered their teen years. Suddenly, the family seemed self-sufficient. After 9-11, I found myself searching for America. I first went after a master's degree in Law and Public Policy. Regent's School of Government centers its program of study in philosophy, and I loved it! I felt I had found America's "river of life," but I still felt unable to share my new insights with others. So, I continued on for a master's in K-12 Education. I surmised that if I could learn to reach children, I could reach anyone. The very last class I took at Regent was taught by a professor of Human Development, Christine Schuette, PhD. Her last assignment for us was to design a lesson plan by first writing a story for children. I am forever grateful to her, because she loved my story! When I read her encouraging comments on the margins of my first manuscript -- a chapter book called, "The Hawk of Purple Mountain" [soon to be released] - something clicked. She got the message - I had communicated an inspiring idea to someone, and it felt great! Dear friend, I hope you and your children enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing and illustrating them! Blessings, Nancy