Local author Venessa Zepeda is seen Thursday at La Encantada Elementary School, where she works as a counselor. Zepeda discussed her debut work as an author, Superhero Princess. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)
By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
Superhero princesses need a superhero mother, and that is what Venessa Zepeda is to her two daughters.
Zepeda, a counselor at La Encantada Elementary School outside San Benito, recently had her first children’s book published, appropriately titled Superhero Princesses. While the book is obviously a work of fiction, it is based on Zepeda’s real “super” daughters named Audrey and Carolyn.
The author said that her daughters inspired her to write the book, a process which also helped her cope with her divorce.
“Shortly after the divorce, I just didn’t know how to deal with the loss of it all and the sadness,” said Zepeda. “So I just started to write stories; all sorts of stories especially about my girls.”
Zepeda said that playing with the girls and interacting with them was a good distraction from the ordeal.
“Since I had so much time with my girls, just watching them, I thought ‘kids are so hilarious,’” Zepeda said. “They just do the funniest things, so the stories are really inspired by them and the things that they do.”
The story, Superhero Princesses, is about Zepeda’s daughters who are trying to find their mother after she goes missing. Zepeda said that writing the story really helped her distract herself from everything that was going on at the time.
“In order for me to not fall apart and let them see how I was feeling, I felt like I just had to retreat and write,” Zepeda said. “Just write it all out, whatever I was going through, and also writing stories about the girls – that was my way of coping.”
Zepeda said that she came to realize that reading books could be therapeutic. She noticed that the kids at her school also liked to be read to as well.
“When they are going through hardships, things that are out of their control, just getting away and getting lost in a book is very powerful,” Zepeda said. “Now that I recently got certified as an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor), my supervisor, Dr. James Whittenberg, encouraged me to write a proposal for a presentation at the Island, and the focus is going to be bibliotherapy for kids, because I use that a lot with the kids.”
Zepeda said that it took her approximately one week to write the story, but she would go back every few days and change a couple of sentences until she got it right.
“I make up stories with the girls at bedtime, especially with the little one,” Zepeda said. “She says, ‘Mom, tell me a story.’ That’s like her favorite question when we’re driving, traveling or getting ready for bed. It kind of forces me to be a little bit creative at times, so I’ll tell her stories, then I’ll start writing these stories. She really triggers the creativity in me.”
Zepeda plans to donate copies of her book to the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the near future. She also has at least three books already submitted for editing through Sarah Book Publishing, all of which will be published.
Read this story in the Jan. 23 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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