Finding inspiration isn’t hard for author Bryan Smith. His inspiration is his job. As a former teacher and current counselor at Puster Elementary School, Smith has utilized his experiences as a family man, professional feud-defuser, and sports fanatic to start up a career in children’s writing.

“I certainly have a creative imagination, but as far as what’s in the books, it all comes from the students,” Smith said.

Father of two, Braden (9) and Blake (6), and husband to Hart Elementary School counselor Amber Smith, Bryan has been in education all his life.

“My wife’s in education too, my mom’s a principal, and my sister-in-law is a high school English teacher,” Smith said. “I was raised by a single mother. My mom was a teacher while I was growing up, and I think that’s what kinda got me into the education field.”

Smith didn’t start writing children’s books until recently. He was inspired by a former counselor who was also a children’s book author. Smith loved the idea of teaching kids good character through picture books they could read in class or at home with their families. He instantly set to work on his first book Is There an App for That?

“So the Is There an App for That? idea came from being a counselor and watching kids try to change themselves to fit in,” Smith said. “That’s one thing that really bugs me so I wanted to teach kids that they should never try to change themselves to fit in.”

So far Smith has written and published Is There and App for That?, If Winning Isn’t Everything, Then Why Do I Hate to Lose, and What Were You Thinking? It took one year to complete his first book, but as Smith grew more familiar with the writing process, publishing a book would take him as few as six months.

“The first process is I basically have to type up a manuscript,” Smith explained. “When I do my manuscript, my story, I basically check it roughly 10 to 20 times myself. After I feel like it’s at its best, I send it off to my editor. Then my editor says whether she thinks it’s good enough to publish into a story or not. If she says yes, then she starts making lots of changes, and we probably change it another 15 or 20 times at that point.”

From the manuscript to whom the illustrator is, Smith has lots of say in his books, but that doesn’t mean he has control over everything.

“One of the most interesting things was the very first time I signed my first contract, she asked me ‘Are you willing to take feedback?’” Smith said. “So I didn’t know what she meant by that, but she said most authors think their work is perfect, and if you’re not willing to change it to make it better, we don’t want to work with you. After hearing her say that, she made me prove that I was willing to take feedback.”

Smith has two new books set to come out in July.

“One book is on random acts of kindness, and the other is on flexible thinking,” Smith said. “Flexible thinking is a continuation of my third book What Were You Thinking? That book, my son is the main character. Random acts of kindness are always something I’ve been looking for in a book. Most elementary schools have a kindness week. I’ve never seen a book that goes along with that. I wanted a book that I could start way down at the kindergarten level, and understanding the concept of what random acts of kindness are. “

Because children have influenced Smith’s writing so much, he hopes to inspire younger children in their own writing. He is often asked to come in and speak to schools about being a writer and about his process.

“I’ve spoken in Plano ISD, Allen ISD, Lovejoy ISD, and Frisco ISD,” Smith said. “I have a fourth grade presentation, and it’s geared on the whole writing process. The kids can visually see. I think it’s great for kids to visually see how much they change on mine, and change kids’ mindset to see if somebody is changing your work for the better, you really should thank them. I also go into the revising and editing section of the STAAR test to show them that they already know everything, and there’s nothing to be stressed out about.”

Not only does Smith encourage better character in his readers, but he hopes to spark their imagination as well to develop confidence and equip more writers at a young age.

“I’ve been an author over 30 years,” Smith said. “I’ve been an author ever since I’ve been able to write stories, so ever since I started kindergarten I’ve be writing stories. I want the kids to realize that they are authors too, and continue to be better authors.”