"When I was four years old I wanted to play soccer with my brothers but I was wearing a fancy pink dress. My mother said I could play soccer with the boys, but I had to change clothes. I wanted to do both - I wanted to wear my dress while playing soccer. Instead I stayed in my dress and watched them play from the sidelines. Then, when I became a mother, I became the hero of my own story. Being a mother made me brave and not afraid of anything. I went from being an introvert to talking to strangers, talking to everyone and being an advocate for my daughter. If I hadn't had my daughter and told her bedtime stories I would never have written my book, Ellie Bixby and the Window to Darvlian Orpth" Lauren Kearney is an author and mother living in Los Angeles.