Daydream Believer: A guest post by author Darlene Foster

Happy to have author Darlene Foster back on the blog today with a guest post. She writes the  Amanda Travels adventure series and today Darlene is here to talk about something I do so, so often--daydreaming! 


Daydream Believer by Darlene Foster
 
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
 
As long as I can remember I have been a daydreamer. Daydreaming has kept me from being bored, lonely and unhappy. It has also been responsible for me accomplishing many of my goals. Many of them started as a daydream.
 
Being around people energizes and inspires me. If there don’t happen to be any people around, I make some up. This began when I was a little girl living on a ranch in the Canadian prairies. Surrounded by never-ending sunshine, a huge blue sky and tons of wide-open spaces, it was a wonderful life. However, I lacked people to talk to. My parents were busy, working hard to earn a living, and my little brothers were only babies. So, I gave my teddy bears names and personalities. I created many adventures for Ted, Teddy, Toostie and Elvis. It wasn’t long until I began to make up other imaginary characters and situations. My parents called me a daydreamer, and they were right! 
 
Once I learned to read, I felt like I had reached nirvana. In between the pages of each book lived new worlds and people for me to meet. I read everything I could get my hands on. I would beg my hardworking dad to stop what he was doing and take me to the library in the city, thirty miles away, to get more books. I made up continuations of the story after I closed the book and created alternative endings. I dreamt about the characters and the places they had been.
 
My grade three teacher recognized my thirst for knowledge and adventure, and my ability to make up stories. She encouraged me to read at higher levels, to write my stories down and to travel to other countries someday. She read The Bobbsey Twins adventure books out loud to us and I loved them. I so wanted to be like them and travel all over the world. She presented me with a copy of The Bobbsey Twins in Mexico at the end of the school year for being an outstanding student. I treasured that book and still have it!
 
Not surprising, years later as an adult, I did travel to interesting places and eventually wrote down some of my stories. My writing took me back to my early days wandering around my dad’s ranch, sitting on a large stone in the middle of the prairies, making up characters in my head and giving them problems to solve and adventures to experience. I thought I had a boring life back then, but now I realize those where the seeds planted that eventually helped me become a published author. The opportunity to daydream was actually a gift.
 
Do I believe in daydreams? You bet! I don’t think anything has changed. Kids, and adults, still need time to daydream in order to exercise their mind and create. And they need to be surrounded by books, lots of books. My hope is that some will read my books and become inspired to travel the world and write stories.
 
“As an author, I’ve never forgotten how to daydream.” ― Neil Gaiman  
 
Thanks so much for inviting me to be a guest on your blog, Krysten.
 
*Always a pleasure to have you on!-KLH
 
 Bio
 
Brought up on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, Darlene dreamt of travelling the world and meeting interesting people. She always loved to tell stories and was encouraged by her grade three teacher to write them down. She is the author of the exciting Amanda Travels adventure series featuring 12-year-old Amanda Ross who loves to travel. Readers of all ages enjoy travelling with Amanda as she unravels one mystery after another in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Spain, England, Germany, Holland and her own country, Canada. When not travelling herself, Darlene divides her time between the sunny Costa Blanca of Spain and the west coast of Canada. Darlene still finds time to daydream!
 
Her latest book, Amanda in Holland: Missing in Action was released September 2019.Her books are read the world over. They are available on all Amazon sites and wherever good books are sold.
 
Amazon author page https://www.amazon.com/Darlene-Foster/e/B003XGQPHA
 
Some links where you can find out more about Darlene and connect with her
 
Website: http://www.darlenefoster.ca/
Blog: https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarleneFosterWriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/supermegawoman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darlene6490/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3156908.Darlene_Foster 

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