Guest Blogger: Writing As Therapy by Nicole Weaver, Author of Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle

Our special guest today is Nicole Weaver, author of the trilingual children's book, Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle.

This story is about the love that developed between a little girl named Marie and a stranded sea turtle. The story tells the struggles Marie had as she helped the sea turtle back out to sea.

"This is the perfect book for schools..."

--Ohio Girl Talks

"Marie's compassion and drive helps young readers see that they can also help make a difference if they will take a stand."

--4 the Love of Books

"This book would be great for multi-lingual classrooms and homes and for children who are intrigued by languages."

--Acting Balanced

"I think this is a great way to present different languages to children..."

--Ellis

Why Writing is a Form of Personal Therapy by Nicole Weaver

Writing can be very therapeutic if the writing is based on personal experiences. My senior year of high school I took a class on poetry. I loved that class. The daily assignments allowed me to express in writing many dormant feelings. Many times I would leave class totally renewed mentally.

After high school I never did much writing. It was not until a few years ago I resumed writing poetry again. Just for fun I entered a poetry contest that my local library sponsored. Much to my delight I won first place. Soon afterwards I began writing poems daily. Each poem I wrote brought me to a higher mental state of rejuvenation. I liked the therapeutic benefits, so I branched out and began writing short stories. I wrote short stories about personal experiences.

Now I mainly write children’s books in English, French and Spanish. Writing my first trilingual children’s book Marie and her Friend the Sea Turtle liberated me mentally in a very profound way. For years, I harbored a deep resentment towards my father for making soup out of a stranded sea turtle. Once the book was published I relinquished the dormant feelings of hatred because I wrote my story with a happy ending. Additionally, the finished story gave me a sense of major accomplishment because the book is designed to teach children and adults to have compassion for sea turtles.

Lastly, I wrote my memoir about my father who later abandoned me. It took a lot of courage to write the memoir, but in the end it was well worth the time I spent writing it. For every chapter I wrote, I could feel a heavy burden being lifted off my shoulders. Whatever negative feelings I harbored in my heart and mind are now written in words. I was ready to publish the memoir, but at the last minute decided not to, because I prefer to not offend family members. The euphoric state of mind of finally letting go of all the hurts will suffice for now.

People write for many different reasons. I never intended for my writings to be a form of personal therapy, but it worked out that way. I am glad it did.

Nicole Weaver was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti. She came to the United States when she was ten years old. She is fluent in Creole, French, Spanish and English. She is a veteran teacher of French and Spanish. She is the author of a children's trilingual picture book titled Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle.

The story is about a Haitian little girl who resided by the beach in Haiti. Her second trilingual children's picture book will be published by Guardian Angel Publishing. The book titled, My Sister is my Best Friend, will be published fall 2011.

You can visit Nicole Weaver’s website at http://www.melangeofcultures.wordpress.com and her book’s blog at http://marieandherfriendtheseaturtle.blogspot.com/.