When I was 9 years old, I wrote a creative piece for class. It was just a few short lines telling of hearing about my baby sister for the first time.  But, it was significant in that it was the beginning of my love for writing. Year on year, I kept writing.  While my dream vocation chopped and changed as I grew up – doctor, teacher, journalist, psychologist, mother – I always knew that author would remain a deep wish.

As school made way for university and university for a teaching job, I felt that writing would have to be something for the future. When children entered the scene, and I quit teaching to raise my kids, writing seemed as far removed from my future as the high powered corporate job that I didn’t want.  Home schooling was next on my plate. Life was busy and immensely fulfilling as wife, mom and primary home schooling parent.

In 2007, I switched, like so many moms, from being an avid blog reader to being a blogger myself. It was journalling and album-keeping all in one shot.  I loved it. Finally, I was writing again. Oh, posts varied from the sublime to the silly, but I was writing. It was a creative outlet that kept my family up-to-date and their memories recorded.  But it soon became more than that….

Ever since my first child was born, I have sought to be intentional in my parenting. That has meant reading and resourcing material that help me and my husband teach our children the Truths we believe. Reading aloud amazing, living books through our home schooling curricula, to my children, opened my eyes even wider to the power of the written word.  My children were learning deep theological truths, amazing biological and geographical facts, and experiencing exciting history all through the pages of excellent stories.  I was hooked on a living book education.

Gradually, my loves began to merge: my love for the gospel, my children, history and the written word led to a story idea.  A story idea that grew and grew until it grew too big for my head.  And so Seekers of the Lost Boy was born.

Once, when asked what compelled me to start writing, I responded with the following:

As a home schooling Christian parent who has experienced first hand the phenomenal impact living books have on children, I have long felt a deep desire to write quality Christian children’s literature: books that bring history alive and explore strong biblical messages through contemporary characters. With the view to create a series where each book focuses on a particular aspect of Christian doctrine within a specific historical context of a country, I’ve written this first book with a strong evangelistic message, where a young family living in Cape Town, South Africa learns more about their apartheid history and, in so doing, discovers Christ.

Today, Seekers of the Lost Boy is complete and on sale at your nearest physical or online bookstore. To find out more, please add http://tarynhayes.com to your feed list or like me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tarynhayesauthor