Mar 10, 2019
In 1987, to enshrine the accomplishments and contributions of women in the US, the US Congress declared that March would be designated as Women’s History Month.
Local writer Patricia Wooster still believes that we still have a lot to accomplish. Wooster is a young adult bestselling author and fact-checker. She was nominated for Science Books & Film Best Children’s Books of 2011 and has written multiple nonfiction kid’s books.
Her published works include, “Ignite Your Spark, Discovering Who You are From the Inside Out” and, “So, You Want to Be a Leader?” Her mission is to encourage young girls to love their self-image.
Her story began with encouragement from her parents, who discovered her work.
“They were cleaning out my room, and my stepdad started reading all these stories I had written. Then, I got a call when I was at school because I was majoring in psychology, and they said ‘we’re sending you a computer, and we want you to switch your major to creative writing.’”
Her most recent book, “Create Your Me Movement”, is an interactive journal that is supposed to be used to make women more confident in their personal identities. The book has a creative structure. There is a key component for each section, a related self-assessment, quotes, and journal prompts used to help women improve their confidence and image.
College Freshman, Crista Tuscano, used the journal and attests to the usefulness of the book.
“It gave me a lot of confidence to not give in to the pressures, and stay true to myself because I was away from my comfort zone. College in itself is already pretty intimidating, so the book helped me get the confidence to stay true to myself,” said Tuscano.
Wooster believes in the validation of their inner worth.
“Social media is heavily influencing our self-image, so I wanted something to help girls create a self-image based on their internal self, and be validated for that. I had a high school girl Instagram me from another country. She said she started using the journal as a way to deal with her depression, and that it helped her find things she liked about herself.”
In addition to books for teens, Wooster is teaching business leaders how to write their own books. She is a self-described book coach that helps businesses and entrepreneurs plan, write, and publish books of their own. This year, she aspires to bring her coaching to the digital world, offering online workshops and courses.
