Sharon Moore

I grew up in home that definitely encouraged education.  My Dad was the Assistant Principle of a local junior high school (grades 6th – 8th) and my Mom was the choir teacher at the same school.  I pursued a career in education as well.  However, I enjoyed teaching children at the preschool level.  That is where my love for storytelling began.  I worked in a few local preschools and then when my daughter was born I had my own home daycare.  I loved sharing stories and songs with the kids during what we called “circle time”. 

I love to tell fun dumb jokes and puns.  I even made one up... What do you call a cow who just had a baby?  De-cafe-innated.  With my name actually being a pun, I went with it.  Plus, it is one of the objectives of my outreach – to share more fun.  So, Sharon Moore Fun seemed like the perfect name for my creative arts outreach.

It started with the violin. At a young age of about 6 or 7, I was taking violin lessons.  Learning was difficult, but as I got better I really enjoyed perfecting solos and playing in different orchestras.  Especially a touring orchestra called Continental Orchestra, which I did for 2 summers.  My love for doing paintings started in high school, but developed as I learned techniques from my uncle.  My uncle was Malcolm C. Heaton, who I loving knew as Uncle Mac. He worked for a magazine entitled Outdoor Indiana and later became the art director of the Department of Conservation.  His wildlife paintings are outstanding, as well as drawings and even cartooning.  He passed away in 2002, but his artwork lives on in some of the State Parks, here in Indiana and other locations.  My journey as an author of children's books started many years ago when I was a preschool teacher.  It was then that I wrote and had published my first book entitled - Linda the Ladybug Goes To Heaven.  Since then I have written and published three more books for children and a book of poetry.  That all started to happen about three years ago when I found a wonderful illustrator on Facebook.  All my stories are a fun way to help children grow in their faith.  My illustrator - Valeria Leonova does an amazing job of bringing my stories to life.

I still have a lot to learn, and I treasure the opportunity to learn from other authors of children’s books. 

Your Frown is Upside down, is actually a verse in one of my poems.  This book of poetry reflects my life as a teacher, mother, and thoughts about life.  FYI:  This is book was done when I was learning how to self-publish. Unfortunately it has some mistakes in it.  I hope to republish it this year, fixing what I found to be wrong and adding some new poems. 

I am so very fortunate to call Bloomington, Indiana my home.  It is not a big city, and yet we have wonderful entertainment that we could go to any night of the week, with the IU School of Music.  Plus, the next town over is affectionately know as Little Nashville.  Nashville, Indiana has a venue that bring in big name entertainment.  Growing up, I went to music competitions on campus and enjoyed music from many different genres.  There are also lots of art venues and festivals.  When the weather is nice they have an event called Gallery Walk.  There are locations where you get to see art and often times meet the artist.

I guess the way it shows up in my creative expression is the fact that the only way to get better is to practice.   IU Basketball has been part of my life for a very long time.  From watching the games on our small TV with my Dad, to actually getting to see them play at Assembly Hall.  It is fun to cheer them on and see them develop in their skills. 

They all have a special meaning, However, if I had to pick just one I would say my poem entitled Giving All I’ve Got. I picked this one because it is so easy to get discouraged and give up. However, I think one of the most important skills that I have learned is to keep striving to get better, and do not give up. (See attachment for the poem Giving All I’ve Got.)

The creative process, or more accurately put – inspiration, comes from things that I am passionate about. So, my poems and stories will often reflect my love for my husband, kids, and grandchildren.

In the program that I was in, I worked to develop lesson plans and then often had the opportunity to implement them in the classroom. As a writer of children’s books I can now add extended lessons, to promote even more learning. For example in my book – The Frog Pond, I have created a lesson plan on the life cycle of frogs. This can be found in my website, under the Blog link.

My heart felt desire is to help little ones get to know the Lord. It has been a long time since I ran my own home daycare. It was after my daughter was born. Now that she is an adult, she encourages and supports my efforts. My grandbabies listen to my books time and time again, and it is my hope that these readings aid in fostering their faith. Each of my books imparts a lesson on nurturing faith through endearing characters such as frogs, sparrows, and a funny little ladybug.

Oh yes, I know that they are my #1fans. I can always go to them and share my exciting moments as well as my struggles. My big brother takes his role seriously, by giving constructive advice, as well as encouragement. My twin sister is my best friend, so you know I tell her everything. If we can’t come up with a solution to a problem... there is always chocolate. I cherish both of them deeply! However, Jesus takes the top spot in my inspiration process, as I rely on prayer to guide my thoughts. Nonetheless, the love and support of my family is a significant contributor to my success

One of the biggest challenges is time management. I strive to find harmony by making sure my loved ones know that they are my top priority. This is still a work in process, but they understand that I am working to fulfill a lifelong dream. At this current time, I am in a semi-retirement program at work, in which I only work 3 days a week. That has been a big help, In just a couple more years I will be fully retired. It is then I will hope to pursue my creative arts outreach like a fulltime job.

That is the heartbeat behind all that I am trying to accomplish. I strive to share my faith-based message thought music, art, stories, and movement/dance. Music is pretty easy to blend into a message because the lyrics can emphasis the topic. I do, however, make sure that what I am sharing is appropriate for the audience. What I share at a senior care facility has a lot more depth, then what I share for school age children. With my paintings, I often add a scripture or saying in calligraphy. My stories are more about a character trying to work out a situation. This is where I show how The Lord is there to help guide us. One other way that I try to blend a faith-based message with creative expression is by sharing a song in American Sign Language - ASL. I only recommend this if you took a formal class from a certified teacher. The ASL culture is one that needs to be preserved to what it is meant to be. Learning the signs to words is not enough, there is a lot more to it then that. I took classes at Ivy Tech Community College from a certified ASL teacher.

Being associated with AllAuthor has been a wonderful experience.

I have been associated with AllAuthor for over a year and I am extremely pleased with all that they do to help us struggling authors. Finding a professional way to promote my books has turned into a much easier process, thanks to the photos that come to my inbox, using my cover pages. I also get to read about other authors and learn from what they have to share. I recommend this organization to “All Authors”, because they help you promote and share your vision to an audience far past anything you could do on your own.