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Learning to BE an Author...Again

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At the end of 2017, when Shawnee Scientific Press released I See Me: More Than One Tree , my lifelong dream of having a picture book published came true. This is when the world met Becca Epps: All images illustrated by the wonderfully talented Melissa Connally  My life grew even bigger than my dreams when I learned that I See Me  would be just the first in a series of six picture books!   Each one of the books gently guides children ages five to eight (and older people too) through acceptance and mindfulness, using stories. An acceptance and commitment training (ACT) model, in particular, is used. Thus, each book covers one core process of ACT.  I See Me: More Than One Tree is all about what ACT calls self-as-context. In the first book, Becca learns that she's more than her grades, her moods, her body and the roles she plays.  Book two, to be published by Shawnee ANY day now, is entitled  Becca Epps Learns to BE . The ACT process

Writing My First Traditionally Published Children's Book

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Most people who know me - evenly remotely well - know that I told my second grade teacher, "When I grow up, I want to be a child psychologist...AND a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader!"  The year was 1980, and those young women were the epitome of cool to a Southern girl.  They wore white boots and their hair was perfectly coiffed, with fly-away bangs and the best curls!  Here's me rocking the look 😏   Hat added for dancing fun! Part of that dream came true. I am a child psychologist, living in the Dallas area. AND, I can still rock a mean pair of cowboy boots!  It turns out cheering was a quick fad in my life. BUT...some childhood dreams just don't die. You know, they're the kind that nag you as you drift off to sleep and fill your first thoughts as you wake. The ones that show up as you ask important children in your lives what jobs they want as adults. They are the hopes and regrets that echo when you ask your closest