Speaker Profile - Jill K. Sayre

Born and raised in southern California, Jill moved to Dallas, Texas and was inspired to write. She majored in Art at UCLA where she got her BA and went on to become a credentialed teacher, earning her Masters at SMU at age 54, focusing on creative writing. Her Capstone project is a program for teachers to practice in their classrooms, aiding children to deal with personal trauma through reading, writing, and art. 

Her first book, The Fairies of Turtle Creek, is woven with the things she considers enrichments of life, like nature, science, art, folklore, and the history of the early 1900s. Jill illustrated the beginning of every chapter and much of the story takes place along Turtle Creek, in Dallas, near her home.

Jill has been an educator for more than 16 years. Her greatest joy is to see the growth of writing skills in her students. She works as a writing coach, tutor, and teaches small-group creative writing and mixed media art classes.

She is currently working on a story called, Grotesque, with gargoyles that come to life. There are also plans for a second book in the Fairies series, which is set in Maui, Hawaii with sea sprites, mermaids, and the Hawaiian gnomes called menehunes! To learn more about Jill and her books, go to www.jillksayre.com.