As a child Glenda felt shy. Looking out her window to neighbors and passersby, she would make up stories about them. Hiding a flashlight under her bed for emergencies, Glenda used it to read her favorite books, sitting up in bed with the blankets pulled over her head, she pretended to be in a tent.

Her first book, part of a series, “Periwinkle’s Magic,” is inspired by a bedtime story she created —about adventures with Periwinkle, a magical gnome, and Mac the macaw, a parrot—that she would tell her daughters. Her oldest daughter, Emily, would add little tidbits to the stories.

Giggling with Glenda, her kids and grandkids laughed out loud whenever she shared these stories. Glenda’s message is a reminder to children that using imagination throughout reading helps you get through things, enjoy life, and believe that anything is possible.

Glenda lives in Sacramento, California, with her husband, near greenbelt areas and a lake, with ducks, fish, frogs, geese and turtles.