“The way to write is to throw your body at the mark when your arrows are spent.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote is a favorite of my friend and fellow Austinite Jerri Romine. “It affirms for me what a difficult and intimate task writing is,” says Jerri. “You have to stop thinking and open your soul, allowing what must to pour through your fingers and onto the page. Then, you have to pick through the resulting mess until all the words are gone and nothing is left but a truth that can connect with the soul of someone else.”

Jerri is a kindergarten readiness teacher at Council Oak Preschool (First United Methodist Church, Round Rock, TX). She strives to introduce young minds to the power and wisdom of children’s literature. Her website, Wiggly Workshop, promotes a series of early childhood continuing education workshops (Wiggly Reading, Wiggly Math, Wiggly Transitions, etc.) which she created.

Thank you for joining me today, Jerri.