It has been a LONG time since I have posted probably due to the fact that my life is now consumed with writing a dissertation. For those of you who may not know, I am in the process of getting my Ed.D in Educational Leadership. I am really enjoying the program, but now it is crunch time. This semester I have four…yes you heard me correctly, FOUR classes. In addition to these classes, I just finished taking my comprehensive exams and now I am working on the dissertation process. I just turned in my dissertation proposal this week and I could not believe that the proposal alone had to be 50 pages. I know that it will only help me with the final dissertation, but 50 pages while taking four classes and writing books is a lot! For those of you who may be preparing for this process, I commend you. 

     On another note, my third book Spacing Out! was just released and I am thrilled with how it turned out. Can I just tell you, I adore this process! I decided to write Spacing Out! to help my sweet little babies who struggle with staying focused. Before writing this book, I felt like I was snapping and redirecting kids all day long. Writing this book, was seriously like an action-based research project. I wanted to know what strategies I could use to help my kiddos focus and complete their assignments. Then, I had to think of a cute way to help them understand these complex ideas. I am very pleased with how this book turned out and can't wait to start a new school year with it.

 Look how cute the Activity Guide is! 

     I am so impressed with these illustrations. I think the best part about this whole process is seeing someone create illustrations for my story. I could literally look at these pictures all day. I can't wait until summer so that I can focus on writing full-time. This has truly been such a blessing and I am enjoying every step of it. I am currently in the process of editing my fourth book which is the sequel to Priscilla and the Perfect Storm. I love this series because I feel that it speaks to my gifted students. My AIG students love these books and always mention the characters and their issues in class. This new book will help teach children how to not worry about things they do not have control over and how to problem solve through the worries they do have control over. I know that this will be a great resource for my kiddos next year. If you are interested in purchasing any of these books you can order them from my website, www.stephiemccumbee.com or from www.boystownpress.org.

I love this Featured Author section on the Boys Town Press website!