“My thought behind the book was a well-rounded individual. That’s your job as a parent, to create an adult, somebody you’re going to send out into the world. You should be really proud of that adult and they should be well-rounded,” said Edwards.

She has written two books of poetry now, the first titled “The Color of My Love.” Both were inspired by her children. She started the first when she only had her son, inspired by the title that popped into her head one day while teaching him about colors. She quickly wrote it in her phone to avoid forgetting it,

“I kept thinking I want to write this book called “The Color of My Love” before he graduates and give it to him as a present,” she said.

Two more children and 15 years later, she completed the book. She planned to save it for her son, but after watching her mother-in-law do self-publishing, she decided to give it a try.

Shyanne Belzer/MDN Stephanie Edwards is the author of two books of poetry. The first, titled “The Color of My Love,” was released last October and the second, titled “On Your Way,” was released in May.

The book shares how each color represents Edwards and any mother’s love for her children. The book begins with, “The color of my love for you is not as simple as a single hue, it is many colors all wrapped in fun but I can point them out one by one.”

When she finished, she was ecstatic. It turned out amazing, but she realized that it no longer was meant for her son.

“I said, ‘Now that’s a book that’s meant more for my five year old. This is all the things I wanted to say to him before, but now he’s 18 and I want to tell him different things,'” Edwards explained.

With that in mind, she sat down and began “On Your Way.” The book was written with the goal of making sure she told her son everything she wanted to, reiterating important messages that would hopefully help him as he went out into the world. She wanted to ensure she was sending him out prepared.

While “The Color of My Love” took Edwards 15 years of little notes in her phone, “On Your Way” took her two hours one afternoon.

“When you have something to say and the time to sit and think, you can get a lot down and it took me about two hours to get the words down,” she said.

When it was completed, she called her dad to read it to him. When she was done, he was crying and told her she shouldn’t change a thing, that it was perfect the way it was.

She had no plan to publish it, wanting it to be just for her son, but when she presented it to him, he encouraged her to do otherwise. According to Edwards, he said that “On Your Way” was even better than “The Color of My Love” and needed to be shared.

Edwards was taught by her mom at a young age to always have a notebook by her bed to write down her thoughts, something she still does today with her phone. This advice is what helped her make her two books and is something she wants to pass along to other writers.

“Just write some stuff down as it crosses your mind. It may not make sense when you write it, it may not rhyme, it may not fit in with whatever your thinking, but at any given time, I probably have 15-20 sayings, phrases, catchy things in my phone that I’ll never know when I’ll need them,” she said. “Your inspiration can come from anywhere at any time and you’ll forget it if you don’t write it down.”

She says the process of writing is much easier when you already have snippets versus sitting down with a blank slate and trying to do it all at once.

Edwards began writing poetry in high school.

She said, “Poetry is probably the most expressive way that I know how to write and get a point across.”

She never thought she would write poetry for a book, usually writing it as a way to express herself and to write to others, but she’s proud to be sharing her knowledge with others.

“If you gain some knowledge or have some insight, you should share it with people because you never know who you’re helping, who you’re inspiring, who you’re making smile and making their day,” she explained.

Along with being a published writer, Edwards is a massage therapist and sells real estate in Minot. Originally from Minot, she moved to Plaza after marrying her husband and continues to make the 45-mile drive back and forth each day. She finds it peaceful and says a good portion of her snippets have likely come from those drives home.

For those interested in purchasing the books, they can be purchased at amazon.com or through Edwards herself. She can be reached at stephedwards25@gmail.com. Both books can be purchased as soft covers and “On Your Way” can be purchased as a hardcover.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Editor Mike Sasser at 857-1959 or Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to msasser@minotdailynews.com.)