Not much Lauren Sánchez it is not completed, from working as a journalist to learning to fly a helicopter and starting her own airline company. But she says her latest venture, publishing her first children’s book, is a dream that has lasted at least a decade!
“I’ve had this idea for a long time,” Sánchez, 54, tells PEOPLE of her first book, The fly that flew into space, which will arrive in bookstores on September 17. “But it was a little different when I imagined it all those years ago. Then it was about a fly that got stuck in a helicopter. I was actually learning to fly a helicopter at the time, and that happened to me. I thought, ‘Oh, look at this little fly … which is flying.'”
That night, Sánchez told her children about the little fly she took for a ride.
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“Wouldn’t this be a great children’s book? Muha could see all these amazing places if she was in the helicopter with me,” recalls the Emmy-winning journalist.
Over the years, the idea stayed with her, but as her life changed with her partner Jeff Bezos, so did the plot. “When Jeff went into space, I thought, ‘This fly needs to go into space room,‘”, she adds.
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However, the idea remained that way until New Year’s Eve a few years ago, when she made her annual resolutions and goals for the future.
“There are always those decisions like, ‘I want to be kind, I want to be a good person,’ but I was trying to think of something else I could do,” she says. “Then my son Evan says, ‘Mom, why don’t you write that book you keep talking about?’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s going to be one of my goals!'”
She adds: “Once you say it out loud, especially in front of your kids, you have to put pen to paper. I wrote it within six months of saying I would.”
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The fly that flew into space, now available for pre-order, follows the story of Flynn, a fly who is not the best in school — but who nevertheless wants to achieve his dreams of becoming an astronaut. One day while investigating a rocket company down the road in West Texas, Flynn runs into a rocket ship that happens to take off with Flynn on board.
Flynn finds new friends in the astronauts and also learns about Earth, its precious resources and why it needs to be protected.
The book The Flies That Flew into Space by Lauren Sanchez.
Collective book studio
Sánchez, who notes that the book will be published in Spanish on the same day, says she likes that she was able to fit several messages into one picture book.
“One of the themes is that everyone learns differently, and even if school is hard, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to chase your dreams,” she says. “Another thing is Flynn goes up and sees the world and then comes down and realizes that he really wants to help save the planet. There’s STEM, and there’s geography, and the other theme is inclusion. The astronauts welcome Flynn to, what I considered it important.”
“There are a lot of things that young minds and readers can absorb! But it’s definitely a bit of a metaphor for curiosity and the pursuit of dreams, as well as being able to help save this planet as an environmentalist,” adds Sánchez, also Vice President of the Bezos Earth Fund.
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Proceeds from each sale of the book will go to charities that specialize in STEM early education, as well as organizations that provide resources to children struggling with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.
As for the writing itself, she says she was surprised that it was harder than she expected, especially since she had so much writing experience.
“People don’t remember, or maybe don’t realize, that I’ve been writing throughout my career,” she says. “When I was a reporter, I wrote all my stories, and then when I was an anchor, you have to write packages and articles all the time. So I’ve been writing for a very long time — I’ve just never written a book.”
She adds, “I’ve found it’s not an easy process, but we have a great publisher [The Collective Book Studio] and it was a lot of fun. I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
The Fly That Flew into Space is available for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education