Former Tomball teacher writes children’s books with community in mind

Terri Kelley, a former Tomball ISD teacher, published her first book this past December.

Posted: Monday, January 21, 2013 10:00 am

Former Tomball teacher writes children’s books with community in mind By MARY BAILEYHouston Community Newspapers

You are standing in the middle of your old school cafeteria wearing absolutely nothing.

Many people have woken with a jolt from this dream, which represents a host of insecurities common to us all: anxiety about being unprepared, about looking foolish. The desire to just disappear.

These are the kind of universal fears that Texas-native author and former Tomball teacher Terri Kelley explores in her chapter book series for children, “Gingerly.”

“[All of my books] have a good message. I love reading, but anytime you get a chance for a teachable moment, you should take that,” Kelley said. “I’m looking to entertain, inform and educate children.”

Meet Gingerly: A shy, unusually tall and slightly overweight 5th grader who wishes she was invisible. She walks her school hallway like a ghost, hoping to avoid the hurtful insults of her bullies. She secretly loves to dance, but she has no friends with whom to share her love. Gingerly is alone.

If you weren’t like Gingerly in the 5th grade, you probably knew someone like her.

Kelley drew from her own childhood memories in writing “Gingerly”, which is part of the reason why the character and story are so relatable.

“I’m pretty realistic with the name-calling,” Kelley said about writing the scenes in which Gingerly is bullied. “Kids can relate to the truth and they know when you’re lying in the story.”

Gingerly struggles with insecurities and issues to which most people, young and old, can relate – dieting, bullying, self-loathing, loneliness. But Gingerly is not the victim of her story, but rather the unexpected heroine. Her life turns around when she meets Zoey, the new girl at school.

“Gingerly meets a little girl named Zoey, who is wild, with a personality the opposite of Gingerly’s. Together they help each other through friendship and work through the problems in a positive way,” Kelley said.

Kelley’s road to becoming a published author was also filled with obstacles. She wrote her first book, a novel about horses, at the age of 7, but it wasn’t until a few decades later that she wrote her next book.

“I knew from that early age that I loved writing,” Kelley said. In high school I was on the yearbook and newspaper, and my passion continued. But I didn’t pursue it in college because it didn’t pay enough.”

Kelley worked for several years with success in the business world, but felt that something was missing in her life.

“I was making a lot of money in sales but it wasn’t very fulfilling. I wanted to give something back to my community,” Kelley said.

Kelley taught for nine years as a reading and gifted and talented specialist for Tomball Independent School District at Northpointe Intermediate.

“As a reading specialist, I was able to share two of my greatest joys with

young students: the joy of reading and writing,” Kelley said.

Kelley was loving her life as a teacher until a series of debilitating seizures in 2009 forced her to go on disability. Shortly after moving to Oregon for her husband’s job a year later, Kelley was in an accident that left her with a broken back.

Immobilized and in pain, Kelley was in bad shape, physically and emotionally. Through the encouragement of her husband, Kelley started to write. And write. And write.

“I started to write and it was like a faucet; I just could not stop,” Kelley said. “While some people think that breaking your back is a terrible thing, it’s really been an opportunity for me. It forced me to do something I never would have done before.”

Kelley wrote through the night and finished “Gingerly” in around 24 hours. She self-published her first book, “I Am In Charge of Me” – a picture book about a first-grader learning about the rules of the world – through CreateSpace.com on Dec. 31, 2012.

And the writing still hasn’t stopped: Kelley has already written over 20 books and expects to publish over two dozen by April.

“Writing in rhyme comes naturally to me; it just comes out. Truly, it’s not work,” Kelley said. “It’s like these thoughts that are in my head; I think about situations and issues that are affecting children, and draw on memories of my own children’s lives, and I just start writing.”

Kelley also writes a book series, “Writing Is a Process,” intended for teachers and parents teaching their children how to write. Each book is written in rhyme and illustrated so as to be both informative and entertaining for children.

Kelley still lives in Oregon but visits Tomball often to visit her father and two of her children.

“I really am proud of my experiences with Tomball, both as a parent and a teacher, and now as a writer,” Kelley said. “ I love Tomball. I raised my children here for a reason.”

Kelley has maintained close ties with the Tomball community and hopes once she is recovered to get back into the schools, as both a teacher and an author.

“I would love to do some readings in the local area. It gives kids the incentive to want to write when they see people from their own community do it,” Kelley said.

In the meantime, Kelley is writing her way to recovery and reaching out to the children she so dearly loves through her stories.

“I feel like my energies would be best served in making the next generation as wonderful as my kids are. If we all took a little bit of time to do that each week, our nation would turn around,” Kelley said.

For more information about Terri Kelley or to order her books, visit her website at www.terrikelleybooks.com.