Salem resident publishes first book
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SALEM -- A Salem resident has self-published a new children's book which will teach children to overcome and grow from their mistakes.
Rebecca Hicks said that the publication of "The Meadow of Second Chances: Mistakes Help us Grow" at the start of September brought together her lifelong passion for writing with her love of helping others, particularly children.
Hicks said that the publication is a picture book aimed at children ages 7 and under which aims to help children feel confident to try their best and learn from mistakes they make along the way.
Meadow of Second Chances tells the story of six animal friends - Lalligator, Sassy Sheep, Laughing Llama, Sparky Sparrow, Hyper Hippo and Greedy Giraffe - as they receive challenges from a wise old owl who teaches them important lessons by making and correcting their own mistakes. After overcoming these challenges, the animal friends must then learn to work together and put all their individual lessons into practice to build a fort where they can all play together.
"I knew I wanted to have funny characters and have them face problems that they could solve and grow from. That was really the inspiration. I want to teach kids to overcome and learn from mistakes. I've made a lot of mistakes, and everyone has, and it's a valuable skill to be able to learn from those," Hicks said.
Hicks is a lifelong Salem resident - 1994 Salem High School alumni - and has been a nurse since 2005. She said that she has always had a natural affinity for reading and writing, noting that English was her best subject in school and that she had won an essay contest in high school.
However, Hicks said that while she used to operate a faith-based blog and had attempted book projects before, her writing has always "been on the back burner" since finishing school and beginning her professional career.
"I was always good in English and in the advanced classes and everything, but I'd never really done anything with it until now. I would always think about [writing a book] over the years and start different things, but I never really came across the right idea or age group. But I've really got the right fit now; I really like this 1 to 7 age group," Hicks said.
Hicks said that she chose to write a children's book since she has always loved those types of publications and has seen the positive impact they can have on children when reading to them as part of her church's youth ministry. She also said that by writing a book which aims to help children develop confidence, she felt she could draw upon her natural talent for writing and fulfill her love of helping others.
Hicks said that she was surprised by the amount of logistical work required to publish a book, and that she was fortunate her brother-in-law was able to help her with technical elements like copyrighting and obtaining an ISBN. She said that while the book was self-published, it took around a month to complete the necessary logistics and reach publication once the manuscript was completed.
Hicks also said that she hadn't realized how much work revision and copy editing would be.
"Every time I read it, I would find things that didn't flow or didn't look right. I didn't realize how many times I would have to rewrite it. I think I rewrote it at least 10 times. I would find punctuation issues, and I was trying to make everything rhyme, and it wasn't," Hicks said. "To make it look exactly how I wanted took some time. I realized why people rewrite a lot. I had never actually finished anything, so I never realized how much work there was on the backside."
"The Meadow of Second Chances: Mistakes Help us Grow" is available for purchase in paperback and on Kindle online through Amazon. For information on the book and future publications from Hicks visit "The Meadow of Second Chances" on Facebook.