My name is Colleen Moodie. I am a first-time children's book author and first-time believer that dreams CAN come true. This blog is my chance to explain how I decided to put my cynicism and fear aside and challenge the idea that maybe, if you work hard enough, you can turn your DREAMS into a reality. 

I began writing children's books as a joke. I had this terrible idea in my head for a children's book for adults. "When I Grow Up". A sort of "Oh The Places You Won't Go...". My apologies Mr. Geisel. 

Like many of my peers and fellow Millennials alike I was underemployed. Working a job I hated. Starring at computer screens by day while managing piles of student loans and bills at night. I began thinking about where I had hoped my life would be at 24. Living in a closet studio apartment, paying off thousands and thousands of dollars in student loan payments and working at a job answering phones and emails all day certainly wasn't my 'Dream Come True' scenario. 

‘When I Grow Up…’ (A brief excerpt)

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, but you’re at your desk

Reports, folders, papers your space is a mess

Surrounded by walls, in your cube, you are trapped

Every day is the same, 9 to 5, you will snap!

Your boss is a jerk, he screams and he hollers

You watch the clock waiting on a few measly dollars

You take notes at meetings and answer the phones

As Customer Service you handle the groans….

Groans and complaints of each waiting caller

With each passing day your big dreams grow smaller.

Kids all alike, nay young adults now, can agree

This is not where they’d wanted to grow up to be. 

I thought about the dreams I had when I was a little girl. They seemed faint but I remembered them fondly  Dreams of being a Dancer or a Fashion Designer. Or teaching English in Brazil. And then I thought about my friend Aly's niece Aubrey. And I imagined her 'grown-up' dreams. And feared if they would ever come true.

Aubrey Brooks is a beautiful and bubbly 5 year old little girl living in Coal City, IL. On January 16^th, 2012 Aubrey was diagnosed with Pre B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Aubrey has bravely battled cancer for a little over a year now and is fighting alongside the love and support of her amazing family and friends. 

Inspired by Aubrey I began writing Children's books about little girls with wild and imaginative dreams. Dreams to one day invent a the first flying hoover car or a cotton-candy cake machine! Dreams to dance on the moon or to be the first female President of the United Sates. Dreams powered by math and science and imagination. Dreams that prove ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. 

I am confident that all of Aubrey's dreams will come true. And that she can grow up to be anyone that she wants to be. And even if she ends up buried in debt, living in a one-bedroom apartment with two roommates, working as a coffee shop barrista. I will be proud to meet the young women she grows up to be. 

So I hope that you come along with me on my journey into self-publishing my very first children's book, Princess Smarty-Pants. I will be working with CreateSpace to design and edit my book and through their online eStore and Amazon.com, as well as some other sales channels, Princess Smarty-Pants will soon be available for purchase!*

*A small proceed from each book will be donated to the Aubrey Brooks Foundation, Aubrey's Army, and benefit Leukemia and Childhood Cancer Research. 

For more information about how you can help support Aubrey's Army please visit her Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/AubreysArmy?fref=ts

Also, Please Follow me on Twitter for more updates! @Princess_Smarty