A BUSY WEEK

I was so honored this week to have the opportunity to go and read "Greta's Purpose" to Velma Penney Elementary School in Lindale. I read to about 200 kids in a three day block. The 4th Graders were having a Writing Camp and thought it might be fun to have a local author and illustrator come and talk about who I am and what inspires me.

Greta came with me along with my daughter, Clara. As you can imagine my hands were full. But, I'm glad to do it! Poor Greta was petrified. It is not every day that she is surrounded by little hands and loud, excited voices. She just pressed herself into me and shook.

It is so funny to me how excited the kids get when they see Greta. I might as well have Mickey Mouse, himself, standing beside me. As far as they are concerned she's famous!

I believe the week was good for them. Hopefully it will inspire some of them to pursue their dreams as they get older. Afterall, that is what I did!

Right at this moment, I'm headed for a Teacher/Book Conference in Houston. I will need to be there bright and early to set up. It will be another GREAT opportunity for me to spread the word about my books. I so greatly appreciate all of the people that are instrumental in helping me.

LOVE THE FALL!!

Make a Smilebox photobook

It is OUT!!

I have been so blessed with the success of "Greta's Purpose" only to have my 2ND book, "Rudy's Path" in print!

This is the 2nd book of the Greta's Series. This is so very exciting for me and I greatly appreciate all the many people that have been so supportive.

Please go check out the Spiritbuilding Publishing website www.Spiritbuilding.com

New Book on its way!

Yesterday, I submitted my 2ND book to my publisher, Spiritbuilding Publishing. This book will be called "Rudy's Path." It follows "Greta's Purpose" as a continuation of the life of Greta and her owners, the Hollys. This story is loosely based off a true story on how our dog, Rudy came into our very own life.

He happened upon our home lost and scared. He was so skinny and malnourished that we were not sure what breed of dog he was kin. His brown coat appeared to be bleached from sleeping in the sun and his eyes bulged from his head.

We took him to the vet and learned that he was a chocolate Labrador Retriever. After a few weeks of feeding him he turned out to be the most gorgeous dog. He received his name because of the football movie, "RUDY." We had a football that he loved to play with. He adjusted very well in our home and took to Greta immediately.

I hope that people will enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing and illustrating it. I will be sure to post when the book is out and ready to purchase.

The BEST Security System!

We got some troubling news from a neighbor of ours who lives about a 1/2 mile down the road. He wanted to inform us that approximately 10 homes on our stretch of Country Road had been robbed within the last 6 months (5 of them within the past month). Immediately, you begin to think about all of the weird things that you may have seen or perhaps the truck that pulled into your drive only to back out when the dogs came out barking(then it sat up at the top of the drive for about 5 minutes).

Apparently, these men (4 of them) have been watching people's routines and robbing houses between 8am-12pm when they suspect people are at work. The one thing I have going for me is that I'm at home pretty much all day. But there are the occasional outings that I must do and that makes me nervous to leave. We do not have a garage so it is pretty evident when no one is here. I do have my 3 large dogs and they are the very best security system.

I have never witnessed my dogs ever attack anyone but I have seen them aggressively approach strangers and bark non-stop when a car pulls into the drive. They bark non-stop when we pull into our drive (IT DRIVES US CRAZY!!!--Especially, when you have a sleeping baby that you would like to see continue to sleep).

We have a wireless dog collar that allows the dogs to have free reign of about 2 acres. We usually try to keep them off the front porch because they just love to dig up my flower bed. But with this recent news, I'm okay with them destroying a little bit of my yard. There is something comforting about seeing your dogs sitting on the front porch as you drive away to run an errand. Isn't it amazing how dogs take ownership of your home and want to protect it as well as your family? Thank you God for giving us "Man's Best Friend."

June Book Signing Event

Rebecca Helvey, author and illustrator of the children’s book, “Greta’s Purpose,” appeared for a book signing event held at the Champion Wood Animal Hospital in Spring, Texas on June 13th between 4:00pm to 6:00pm. Along side Rebecca was the main character of her book, Greta, who helped her sign autographs with a large stamp that was made from her very own paw print! Approximately, 60-80 people attended the event and snacked on paw shaped cookies and finger foods that were cleverly placed in stylish, doggy dishes. The event was a success and the animal hospital is anxious to host a future event when Rebecca’s second book to the Greta series, “Rudy’s Path,” is in print.