Author Connie Raun Foss Has Book Signing At Hastings This Saturday

PRESCOTT, Ariz. - May 22, 2013 - PRLog -- Prescott resident, Connie Raun Foss, will be at Hastings Book Store in Prescott so fans and interested parents can purchase her childrens' books, Swim with Mr. Water and her latest, Strum Bum.

Swim with Mr. Water is a wonderful instructional book for parents to use with their children in teaching them how to swim.  As a swim instructor for many years, Connie felt strongly about reaching out to families who couldn't necessarily afford swim lessons or find the time and instructors to provide them.  "What's more important than keeping your child safe around water?" asked Foss.  "I know how to teach swimming and water safety to kids, so why not help empower their parents or grandparents by giving them a way to share the wonderful world of "Mr. Water" with them?" she adds.  Swim with Mr. Water takes your young swimmer from the basics of how to float through the butterfly stroke - five in all.

Connie's latest book, Strum Bum, is a fictional story about a real racehorse.  Longtime trainer and jockey O.A. Martinez met and developed a special relationship with the racehorse, Strum Bum, which Foss took and wrote a fictional children's story around.  The story reflects the wonder and bond that can develop between animal and human.

Both books will be available and Connie will be signing them and answering readers' questions from 1:00 to 3:00pm.  Hastings Books is located at 940 Willow Creek Road in Prescott.

More About Connie Foss

"Why do I write? Could it be that it helps me understand? Is it because my favorite activity is reading, so I hope to provide some of that joy for others? Or might it be that I can't help it? Obviously, I don't know why I write, but I expect that the reasons are many and probably varied, depending upon what kind of writing.

In writing the Mr. Water books, my reasons are the result of learning to understand what makes kids tick and how to use that to help them enjoy what has been a basic ingredient in my life, swimming. So many children are unable to take swim lessons due to limited family financial ability, and as a result, not only miss out on the pleasures in swimming, but fall victim to drowning – which is horribly unnecessary. Let's Swim with Mr. Water helps parents actively take part in their childrens' enjoyment AND safety by teaching them very basic lessons. As a swimming instructor for more than 60 years, I want Mr. Water to make a difference in the lives of children.

Another reason is sharing. If we are here to help others, sharing our thoughts is part of it. Nothing is truly good unless it is shared. Yes, that is what I would like to think is the seminal reason behind writing, in particular, my writing." – Connie Foss

Connie Raun Foss was born with the love of horses in her heart, and, like thousands of children, expressed her love through constant requests to mom and dad for her very own horse on every birthday and Christmas throughout childhood. Those wishes and desires weren’t realized until after Connie met and married her husband, Robert L. Foss, a fellow horse lover. Together, Connie and Rob established a successful grain business in Missouri which afforded them the time to raise, train, and show their own fine horses under the name Foss Farm Arabians. Connie’s love for horses evolved from their attendance at many horse shows to that of art. Connie started carving wooden horse busts as decoration for their stalls at the shows. Soon after, her equine art was in demand, and Sculpture by Foss was born. Connie carved many nationally known horses, some as 36 inch walnut busts, others full body.

Today, most of her sculpting is focused on bronze sculptures. In fact, Connie just completed a commissioned bronze of a beautiful jumping champion. Connie’s love of horses also emerges in the form of writing. As an author, she has written for several horse magazines and farm newsletters over the years. Connie now enjoys writing childrens books of which horses are central characters. With both a brother and a son having become successful equine veterinarians, family talk is horse talk. Her brother is Dr. Alan Raun of Reedannland, Cumming, Iowa, well known in American Saddlebred and Hackney Pony circles. Connie’s son, Dr. Robert Raun Foss, Equine Medical Services, Columbia, Missouri, is internationally known, particularly through his embryo transfer pioneering. And so the passion continues and its expression is one which Connie hopes you enjoy.