Lenora Rodgers gives back through the stories she tells
Wednesday's Woman
By Becca Owsley
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Author Lenora Rodgers uses her love of writing to help support organizations in the community.
She said she was an “Army brat’ and an only child. The family moved around a lot during her father’s career in the military and she remembers writing a lot during that time but never did anything with it.
When she worked for the federal government for 25 years, she said didn’t have much time for writing, especially raising two kids at that time.
She took early retirement but knew she still wanted to do something. Rodgers became an instructional assistant at Helmwood Elementary School for 13 years. During that time, she started writing again. She worked with first and second graders and saw how excited the kids were when they found a good book.
“There’s nothing more exciting to see a child who absolutely won’t read because they just don’t like it and then find a subject they like and want to read it,” Rodgers said.
After retiring from working at the school, Rodgers took the opportunity to do something with her writing.
She found a group of writers on an eBook publishing site www.bookrix.com. On that site, she found a community of authors that talked to each other, offered feedback and helped edit each others work called the Peacock Writers. The children’s book club creates two compilation books a year and the proceeds go to children’s charities.
The writers in the group are from all over the world. They get together twice a year online to come up with the theme and content for their books, she said. To maintain control of the books and where the proceeds go, the group remains a self-published group.
Rodgers, 58, posted a Christmas poem about a little girl who saw magical things in Santa’s beard. Someone suggested she submit it for one of the group’s books, but that edition was already ready to publish. She was encouraged to come up with a story for the spring edition about fairies and dragons.
She woke up at 2 a.m. with an idea for a story about two goofy assistants to the tooth fairy, she said. One carried the bag of teeth and the other the money left for children.
She wrote it down immediately so she wouldn’t forget it and this story was in her first to be used in the Peacock Group publications.
“It’s a good way for me to be useful in my retirement and give back,” Rodgers said.
By selling these books throughout the area, she has been able to give to SpringHaven Domestic Violence Program, Memorial United Methodist’s day care and the backpack program at Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland. She hopes after the next round of sales to donate to New Beginnings Family Services.
She’s worked on four books with the Peacock group and usually has a short story and a piece of poetry in each one. One last year was about bullying and is designed to help kids combat bullying. The upcoming summer edition will have a beach theme and another winter edition is scheduled to come out later in the year.
Read story in entirety at The News-Enterprise
Serving Hardin County Kentucky
http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/lenora-rodgers-gives-back-through-stories-she-tells
Wednesday's Woman
By Becca Owsley
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Author Lenora Rodgers uses her love of writing to help support organizations in the community.
She said she was an “Army brat’ and an only child. The family moved around a lot during her father’s career in the military and she remembers writing a lot during that time but never did anything with it.
When she worked for the federal government for 25 years, she said didn’t have much time for writing, especially raising two kids at that time.
She took early retirement but knew she still wanted to do something. Rodgers became an instructional assistant at Helmwood Elementary School for 13 years. During that time, she started writing again. She worked with first and second graders and saw how excited the kids were when they found a good book.
“There’s nothing more exciting to see a child who absolutely won’t read because they just don’t like it and then find a subject they like and want to read it,” Rodgers said.
After retiring from working at the school, Rodgers took the opportunity to do something with her writing.
She found a group of writers on an eBook publishing site www.bookrix.com. On that site, she found a community of authors that talked to each other, offered feedback and helped edit each others work called the Peacock Writers. The children’s book club creates two compilation books a year and the proceeds go to children’s charities.
The writers in the group are from all over the world. They get together twice a year online to come up with the theme and content for their books, she said. To maintain control of the books and where the proceeds go, the group remains a self-published group.
Rodgers, 58, posted a Christmas poem about a little girl who saw magical things in Santa’s beard. Someone suggested she submit it for one of the group’s books, but that edition was already ready to publish. She was encouraged to come up with a story for the spring edition about fairies and dragons.
She woke up at 2 a.m. with an idea for a story about two goofy assistants to the tooth fairy, she said. One carried the bag of teeth and the other the money left for children.
She wrote it down immediately so she wouldn’t forget it and this story was in her first to be used in the Peacock Group publications.
“It’s a good way for me to be useful in my retirement and give back,” Rodgers said.
By selling these books throughout the area, she has been able to give to SpringHaven Domestic Violence Program, Memorial United Methodist’s day care and the backpack program at Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland. She hopes after the next round of sales to donate to New Beginnings Family Services.
She’s worked on four books with the Peacock group and usually has a short story and a piece of poetry in each one. One last year was about bullying and is designed to help kids combat bullying. The upcoming summer edition will have a beach theme and another winter edition is scheduled to come out later in the year.
Read story in entirety at The News-Enterprise
Serving Hardin County Kentucky
http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/lenora-rodgers-gives-back-through-stories-she-tells