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After graduating from Azle High School, Laurie Chance left home in 1988 to study psychology at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
She followed up with a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Her education is ongoing. She and her husband, James Smith built their home in Azle while Laurie put her degree to work counseling teens at the Edna Gladney Center in Fort Worth. Eight years ago the Smiths’ lives were changed forever when Laurie gave birth to twins Luke and Joshua – and the learning went to a whole new level.
She left her counseling position at Edna Gladney to stay home with the twins. “I couldn’t see putting my kids in child care while I go take care of someone else’s,” she said. So the newly-minted stay-at-home mom took up the pen. Between diaper changes and frequent feedings, she began to write. “I loved all my writing courses in college,” Smith said. “One of my professors even told me to hold onto my writing skills because they will come in handy.” The instructor was right. The twins were enthralled with trains at the time, so Smith wrote a poem about trains. It was published in a children’s magazine and helped lay the groundwork for a new career. “Once you have your first piece published it’s easier to get more,” she said. Soon Smith was creating word puzzles, writing short fiction and nonfiction and even taking photographs to illustrate her work. Today she writes for audiences of all ages and genres and has been published nationally and internationally. Her magazine credits include Boys’ Quest, Focus on the Family Clubhouse, Nature Friend and The School Magazine. In August 2007, with Luke and Joshua as her muses, Smith wrote a piece for Twins magazine about twins having a “built-in advantage” when learning and doing yoga – a partner. She illustrated the story with photographs she took of the twins in the yoga poses of Tiger, Coyote, Mountain-Peak and Whale. Smith’s adult magazine credits include; Hood & Somervell Today, Fort Worth Child, Our Kid’s Ministry Ideas, Houston Family Magazine, Long Island Woman, American Fitness and Massage & Bodyworks. The February 2009 cover of Parker County Today features a photograph Smith took of the 1920’s era, 14-story, 452-room Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells. Her well-researched story appears inside. Parker County Today also published, “A New Kind of Book Drive,” which Smith wrote about Azle resident Janie Rector’s role in building the Azle Memorial Library. And Smith’s poem Seaside Coin was published in the Feb. 8, 2008 issue of the Star Telegram’s Neighborhoods Upclose magazine. The progression from counselor to professional mom to freelance writer/photographer was a natural one for Smith, who says her psychology background helps her be a better mother and her passion for learning helps her be a better writer. “I’m a professional student,” Smith said. “I learn something new every day. And every piece I write adds to my understanding of life.” |
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