A Sister's Journey

As I've mentioned before, I am the oldest of five kids. We were pretty spread out - I was fifteen when the youngest was born. All of us are very different in personality and interests. I am into photography, Shan has always loved animals, Wren into swimming, Hannah excelled at ballet and writing and Kyle into video games... you get the idea. Well... sometimes our hobbies can turn out to be particularly beneficial.

Last year at the homeschool convention Hannah wandered by the booth for Bethel College. After chatting with the representatives for a few minutes they gave her some literature on a scholarship writing contest being held by Tweener Times Ministries. The winner would receive a scholarship to Bethel College, a trip to Paris, a cash prize and their book would be published. At the time she was interested in the scholarship but had no idea how big of an impact this meeting would have on her life.
Hannah had written several stories already including fan-fiction online but she had not yet been involved in any writing contests of this kind. Over a couple of weeks Hannah set out and wrote Journey to the Homeland. Per the requirements of the contest the book should be a creative adventure with positive moral values and geared toward elementary and middle school children. It is about Keegan, a young orphan boy who has the gift of being able to communicate with animals. Keegan cautiously keeps his gift a secret from everyone as he moves from town to town looking for a place to call home. He befriends a jaguar and together they attempt to rescue Nora, who was kidnapped when the evil king's men mistake her to be the "gifted" child instead of Keegan. Its a wonderful story of adventure, friendship, honor and redemption.
Over the next few months we found out that Hannah had made the semi-finals, the finals and then eventually that she had won the scholarship contest! It was such an exciting time as we would wait to hear if she had made it to the next round and when she won... wow - it was such a proud moment for all of us. Then, just a few weeks ago we looked on Amazon.com and it had her book and bio on there! How cool is that?!? My sister, the author!
Hannah has never been one to be the center of attention so this experience has really pulled her out of her comfort zone with the local newspaper doing a story on her, all of our friends and family congratulating her, and now she's even making personal appearances to speak and sign books. This has been such an amazing opportunity for her. I mean, how many sixteen year olds can say they are a published author? The publishers are even talking to her about a possible sequel to Journey to the Homeland!
If you would like to purchase a copy of Hannah's book or if you are interested in having her speak at your child's school or library please check out Hannah's website: www.KeegansJourney.com for contact information. They're still working on the site but it should be up and running soon!