Местная учительница превратила стихотворение для пасынков в первую детскую книгу

Local author and educator Nicole Manahan wrote a poem to her stepchildren 15 years ago, and recently she turned it into her first children’s book. “I wrote it 15 years ago as a poem for my stepkids and I just kept it, and I would read it every once in a while and I was just like, ‘You know, am I going to die with it in a notebook someday or am I going to do something with it?’” Manahan said at a recent book signing at the Williams County Public Library Bryan branch. She added that while the message in “Love You Like You’re Mine” is obviously special to her stepchildren, it’s something she hopes all step parents and stepchildren will receive. “I wrote it to my stepkids, just thanking them that I was able to be a mom, and I really want the message to get out there that you don’t have to be there from the beginning for it to be good, you just pick up from where you’re at, and kids just need you to love them.” Manahan said she decided in December that she would start researching book publishers and eventually decided on Books Publishing out of Texas. “They were really good and communicative,” she added. “They would send things back and forth, I would proof it, and then on June 9 is when it actually finally released.” Manahan currently works at Bryan City Schools as a kindergarten intervention specialist and said she has six other books written but not yet published. “Three of them are focused around educational things and then three of them are focused around empowering kids,” Manahan said. “My husband just keeps saying, ‘Go ahead and publish them. If you have a few other books on the table, that’d be great.’” Manahan will be at the Edon branch library Monday at 5 p.m. for another book signing. She also plans on speaking to local civic clubs in the near future about the book. She said it is available locally and on Amazon.