Book Signing Event

​        On November 9th I will be at the Keene Memorial Library located at 10th and Broad Streets in Fremont, Nebraska for a book signing event.  I will be signing copies of my first two books – “Tell Me A Story Oma Sue About Three Frogs” and “Tell Me A Story Oma Sue About Three Frogs Swept Away”. The time for the book signing is 2:00 to 4:00 PM and will be held in the meeting room of the main library.  
            Most of the people who read the blog entries are friends and know the back story concerning my writing of the “Three Frog” series but just in case there are a few people new to the blog, I will make an effort to catch you up.
            My granddaughter RaiLee would often ask me to tell her stories about strange, off the top of her head topics.  It was difficult at times to figure out a story about a thumb or a pencil, but I would do my best to come up with a story.  One night a few years ago, RaiLee crawled into my bed and asked me to tell her a story about three frogs and the story I developed that night turned into book one of the three frog series.  
            I was the Executive Director of Keep Fremont Beautiful at the time and the story included the litter reduction and repurposing themes we had been promoting to our citizens.  My assistant, at the time, thought I should publish the story so it could be used by KAB affiliates in their education programs.  I wrote the story down and put it on the back burner for when I retired.
            Upon my retirement, I started writing in my shed.  I didn’t have a focus.  I was all over the place with writing – it didn’t make a lot of sense.  Within a few months our family learned that my second granddaughter Gracyn, was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy.   We had known for a long time that something wasn’t right but still the genetic testing results came as a shock. 
            Suddenly my writing had a focus.  When Gracyn first began talking, she named me Oma Sue.  It was only natural that I would name my publishing company “Oma Publishing” and the stories would all be “Tell Me A Story Oma Sue”.  The main character in the three-frog series is Freddy – a smart little frog with the biggest blue eyes you ever saw.  Freddy is a combination of my granddaughters RaiLee and Gracyn.  My hope is to empower girls to accomplish their goals and explore creative problem-solving methods.  
            Green and Hops are Freddy’s two best friends and are patterned loosely after grandson’s Max and Sam.  The stories contain an environmental message, as well as, demonstrating compassion to other living creatures.  
            Gracyn will have many challenges ahead.  I won’t always be around to help her.   My new passion in retirement is to write these stories and through the three little frogs, encourage everyone to do all they are able to improve their environment and care for one another.   
            Publishing these stories is my retirement passion – my hobby.   Each book, puzzle, t-shirt, book bag, poster or any other product sold benefits Gracyn.   All proceeds are deposited in a special needs trust for Gracyn Mae Smith.   
            I hope that you will find value in the stories, that you will want to share the messages with your kids and grandkids, that you will purchase a book or two and help provide strength and independence for a special little girl.