Camas, WA — At Thursday’s Camas-Washougal Rotary Club meeting, member Tina Simmons announced she would be having a book signing for her book, “Zandreal.”

Wait, what?

Simmons, who works for a wine labeling company, and whose pen name is Tee Griffen, spent a year writing and editing “Zandreal,” and got it published in 2016.

“It’s really not a new book,” said Griffen. “But because of life issues, I had to delay its marketing, so we’re doing that now.”

“Zandreal” is young adult fantasy fiction about a young girl named Andrea and she finds out she’s not quite human. So, she must figure out why she’s here, and she ends up doing a lot of external travel,” said Griffen. “The book is about our responsibility to share our gifts with the world, taking care of the Earth, and working together.”

Griffen’s no stranger to writing, as she previously was the ghost writer for two books — the first was “Tracks: Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran” by Clyde Hoch. The second one was a book called “Turbo Charge Your Life,” by Troy Spring. Those were written in 2011 and 2012.

“I’ve always liked to write, but being an author wasn’t my goal in life,” said Griffen. “I went to school for Graphic Design at Cazenovia College in upstate New York. ”I wrote this as part of self-exploration. I’m an observer, a healer, a worrier, a wanderer, and a seeker. All the elements were there. I couldn’t write it fast enough. Once those five parts came to me, they formed the characters and the storyline came together.”

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Initially, she worked with a publisher, but it didn’t move fast enough for her, so Griffen chose the self-publishing route.

“It was hard to self-publish,” said Griffen. “I felt more out there on my own, because with the publishing house I felt I would have had more support. The Kickstarter campaign was set in 2016 and I raised $4,000. It wasn’t hard to get, but it took a lot of marketing. They told you to find champions ahead of time. They also supported me. I had a community. It was an emotional roller coaster because it feels like baring my soul to the world.”

Sunday’s book signing at Caffe Piccolo in Downtown Camas is the only book signing she has scheduled for now. She’s been talking to the school districts about getting into the classrooms.

“I think it’s time to get the book out there,” said Griffen. “I feel like our country is very polarized, and I think we could use a little bit of unity.”

The book is available at www.Amazon.com and you can learn more at www.teegriffen.com

Camas, WA — Imagination, determination, and overcoming adversity were the main topics addressed by 2008 Camas High School graduate, and new book author, LK Walsh, while addressing Liberty Middle School students Friday afternoon.

Her book, “The Lavender Soul,” released in April through PelianWords Publishing House, is a fantasy novel about a young girl born with lavender eyes, portending she will be the annihilation of evil, or the impetus of world-consuming darkness. It is an adventure through a fantastical world with reimagining of classical characters, such as fairies and dragons, along with new beasts crafted from Walsh’s imagination. It’s about the main character, Vera, who is seeking out her purpose.

Now living in Lompoc, CA, Walsh is in town for the Portland Book Festival, and was invited to spent time in her hometown.

“I’m here to talk about dreams and how you can help them come true,” said Walsh. “I was a senior, and had my life plan right on track, and I had already applied to several universities. I was set. I was ready to go to Chapman to study Music Therapy. Chapman said they were ending the program, and that affected my scholarship. I was high and dry, and my mother had to call and begged to get to other schools. I had worked for years to become a music therapist, so I decided to become a Humanities major and went to Concordia in Southern California.”

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She appreciated the experience, and was able to explore many things.

“I went into journalism, but that wasn’t for me,” said Walsh. “Then I worked for an art newsletter. That wasn’t for me. So, I decided to get into publishing.”

After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities Creative Writing from Concordia in 2011, she spent 18 months writing “The Lavender Soul” after spending eight years imagining it. Once completed, she went through the agony of finding a publisher, and after 38 rejection letters, she found a home with PelianWords Publishing House.

“I am fully able to admit that I felt like a failure because it really hurts when people say no,” said Walsh. “But failure isn’t real. You can fail because you didn’t pass a test. If you choose not to learn from the failure, then it’s a real failure. You have to learn from it.”

She said there’s “one key to success in any field and that is imagination, which is key to making all of your dreams come true.”

She encouraged the middle schoolers to always have imagination.

LK Walsh addresses students at LIberty Middle School in Camas.

“Logic, science and math are not separate from imaginations,” she said. “Sometimes people give up on their dreams because of money. Authors don’t make money. My dream is to create worlds. My dream is to spread imagination. Dreams have such great value because it takes courage to dream. Every time you have a thought it creates a physical pathway in your brain. The easiest thoughts are negative ones. It takes imagination to be positive. Imagination gives you the courage to dream. Dreams don’t always have to be those huge paychecks. They don’t even have to make sense.”

Walsh has spent the last several weeks traveling to promote her book, and is working on a prequel, which has been approved by her publishing house.

Cat Rushing, Walsh’s mother, created the cover illustration, based on vision provided by Walsh.

To learn more, or to purchase her book, visit www.lkwalshauthor.com