Dee Maner

As I sat here trying to put a lifetime of experiences in one paragraph, I think back to when I first started thinking about “Artie.” As a child my family had one of the very first artificial Christmas trees. My classmates had fun, making fun of our tree. Because I had been teased and had no confidence, I knew just how my little tree felt. I was held back in the second grade and unable to read at grade level in the forth. Unknown at that time, these problems were a result of being dyslexic. As I became an Adult I still could not spell and new words were still hard to sound out, but I realized I had a very special talent “imagination”. I wrote plays for my children, told fun stories to my Swim Teams and Gymnastics classes and used my incredible gift to solve problems. My best friend, dyslexia, gave me the ability to see things as they can be, to organize, to plan and bring ideas to life.

I started businesses, wrote training manuals for staff, cleaned the bayous of Houston Texas and received many awards. But always “Artie” was on my mind. I began by researching the history of Christmas trees and outlined “Artie’s Story”. I knew I must bring “Artie” to life. I first wrote a screenplay. My cousin Rodney Crowell told me to meet with Leslie Bohem, a well-known Hollywood screenplay writer, at the screenplay writer’s convention in Nashville Tn. After reading “Artie” Leslie gave me five suggestions to make it better. It took months of work and sixteen revisions before I heard “Artie” is ready for the world to see, now write a children's book that will help sell the screenplay.” I then had to learn how to write a children’s book. After 34 revisions, “ARTIE,” The first Artificial Christmas tree, is a published book.“Artie” is both traditional and original. It is a story that deserves to be heard. I wish I could read it with each of you but I do know that where ever Artie is so is part of my heart.