During the recent reading of her story, The Legend of Bigfoot (from the Adventures at Raylan’s Ridge Series), author Debbie Saarloos shared her love of the outdoors and her adventuresome spirit with everyone. The reading was part of a special program hosted at the Escalon Library on Thursday afternoon, June 12.
Saarloos, a Realtor at PMZ, has enjoyed a successful career in real estate and has always been a nature lover. Through many camping trips to the foothills and hikes with her family, she felt compelled to write about how thrilling it is to step out into nature and just focus on the beautiful things right in front of you.
Writing didn’t always come easy to Saarloos as she shared that she is dyslexic and had struggled with reading earlier in her life.
“I grew up not knowing how to read. I could read Green Eggs and Ham to my kids but I couldn’t read anything else to them,” said Saarloos.
Emphasizing that literacy challenges can and do affect people of all ages, not just children, Saarloos imparted a message of hope and promise to the group in attendance
“I was 32 and I knew I wanted to learn more and so I went through my local literacy program at my library,” said Saarloos.
Through the Adult Literacy Program that is provided by the San Joaquin County Public Library System, Saarloos grew her literacy skills while also gaining confidence in her abilities.
Accompanied by her grandson Xavier Silva along with another young friend, Lily Archerda, Saarloos read her story, The Legend of Bigfoot, which was filled with images of Bigfoot and his adventures through the forest. Saarloos went on to share that some of the characters were modeled after friends and family including a turtle named Flossie, which is modeled after Saarloos’s mother, Flossie, who coincidentally had a turtle back in Texas named after her. Flossie is proud of how far Debbie has come and is thrilled that she has passed on the writing gene to her great-grandson Xavier.
Xavier brought his book which is entitled, I Am Not Afraid of the Dark but My Dad Is, which he wrote for his dad and shared it with the group. Xavier is already working on his next book and is very proud of his grandma for sharing her story and sparking creativity for so many.
Lily, who shared the stage with Saarloos and who is also writing a book about the lifecycles of butterflies, provided a little information about her writing and why she enjoys butterflies so much. Encouraged by her family, Lily started writing a while ago with one of her best friends that had relocated to another state. Now they keep each other informed of their storylines via FaceTime and receive encouragement and feedback from Saarloos so that they can continue in their journey to becoming authors.
After the reading, Saarloos showed the crowd some samples of obsidian along with some artifacts that the Chickasaw Native Americans used to hunt and gather with. She also had fun coloring activities and headdresses for the kids to enjoy while learning more about indigenous Native Americans in California.
Saarloos has already written the second book of the Raylan’s Ridge Series, entitled, “Grandma’s Great Advice,” which should be available later this year. For Saarloos, this incredible journey from building her literacy skills to becoming an author and inspiring others through her journey has been particularly meaningful.
Saarloos will also be attending The Great Valley Bookfest coming up later this year, on Oct. 11, at The Promenade Shops in Manteca, 280 Lifestyle Road (Bass Pro Center) and sharing her inspiring story. You can also visit https://www.kidzarecool.com/ to hear her story and purchase her book.
