About the Author: I've spent years reading, writing, and story-telling. I'm a middle school librarian and a busy mom with three kids. I am married to my high school sweetheart and live in Shelbyville, Kentucky. I spent fourteen years teaching middle school math, science, and language arts. A passion for books and reading prompted my return to graduate school to pursue a degree in Library Science. I spend my days surrounded by books and the students who want to read them. My best day is when a student tells me how much he or she enjoyed a book. Connecting books to young readers is a dream job. Writing stories for teens is a continuation of that journey.
I used to spend a lot of nights hunched over my laptop at a tiny folding table in the corner of a front room. When my family went to bed I dove into my imagination to create characters and situations. This was my only free time for writing. I love to start new stories, but I don't always finish them. Sometimes new ideas seem more fun and interesting...I am working on seeing my projects through to the end. One of my friends helped me to reconfigure the furniture in our front room to make space for an actual desk. Now I have an area that is really my own and doesn't have to be cleared out or straightened up before friends come over.
I like to spend time laughing with my friends, family, and being creative. One of my favorite projects was the creation of my YouTube channel, TheWMSLibrarian. (I had a lot of help from my students, they are very inspiring!) Visitors to my channel can view book talks geared toward a middle school audience. I also LOVE to work with student writers. While today's students do a lot of writing in school I find it to be very rigid. There isn't a lot of room for the creative writer to spread his or her wings. Student writers are rarely given the time and freedom to really explore their writing talent. I've been leading groups of students in creative writing for several years now. It's one of my favorite teaching activities. The most awesome thing is when I hear from former students who have finished a novel or published their own book! How exciting!
If you were to stop by my house, you would most likely find me cooking, painting, gardening, or making something out of repurposed materials. Please let me know you're coming so I can run around and pick all the stuff up off the floor and throw it into the laundry room. You can take a seat at my kitchen table and I'll serve you up a snack, something to drink, and we can chat for a bit.
Contact me!
email: chelliegaither@gmail.com
Watch me on YouTube talk about books and my love of reading!
YouTube: youtube.com/c/TheWMSLibrarianChellieGaither
I used to spend a lot of nights hunched over my laptop at a tiny folding table in the corner of a front room. When my family went to bed I dove into my imagination to create characters and situations. This was my only free time for writing. I love to start new stories, but I don't always finish them. Sometimes new ideas seem more fun and interesting...I am working on seeing my projects through to the end. One of my friends helped me to reconfigure the furniture in our front room to make space for an actual desk. Now I have an area that is really my own and doesn't have to be cleared out or straightened up before friends come over.
I like to spend time laughing with my friends, family, and being creative. One of my favorite projects was the creation of my YouTube channel, TheWMSLibrarian. (I had a lot of help from my students, they are very inspiring!) Visitors to my channel can view book talks geared toward a middle school audience. I also LOVE to work with student writers. While today's students do a lot of writing in school I find it to be very rigid. There isn't a lot of room for the creative writer to spread his or her wings. Student writers are rarely given the time and freedom to really explore their writing talent. I've been leading groups of students in creative writing for several years now. It's one of my favorite teaching activities. The most awesome thing is when I hear from former students who have finished a novel or published their own book! How exciting!
If you were to stop by my house, you would most likely find me cooking, painting, gardening, or making something out of repurposed materials. Please let me know you're coming so I can run around and pick all the stuff up off the floor and throw it into the laundry room. You can take a seat at my kitchen table and I'll serve you up a snack, something to drink, and we can chat for a bit.
Contact me!
email: chelliegaither@gmail.com
Watch me on YouTube talk about books and my love of reading!
YouTube: youtube.com/c/TheWMSLibrarianChellieGaither