Jennasey Guzman, a senior from Wylie, Texas, at the University of Mississippi, has achieved a dream many English majors aspire to: writing and publishing a book. Her story, “Forever Home,” is written for children and centers on loss and trusting in God.
“‘Forever Home’ is about me as a child with my childhood dog named Oso,” Guzman said. “He’s a fluffy, spunky Chihuahua with an attitude, and it’s the story about me growing up and learning to trust God with every prayer.”
Guzman said that she was inspired to write the book because of a combination of her faith in God and love for her dog.
“So my mom and I — she’s the co-author — we realized that there are not a lot of Christian books about pet loss for children,” Guzman said. “Since we love animals and our faith is a big part of what motivates us and gives us peace and comfort, we wanted to bring that perspective for children.”
Guzman said that she uses her own story and experiences to show how she learned that God cares for all things, especially the things that we care about.
“It’s about me learning to grow up and eventually leave (Oso) behind to do mission work abroad,” Guzman said. “The Lord letting me come back and have a good-bye with him before he passed away, and learning to deal with that grief with a Christian perspective of eternity — that God is restoring all things.”
The book aims to explain death to children in a way that is simple to grasp.
“We settled on telling that the dog is going to sleep forever but that he’s going to a new forever home after he’s had a forever home with us on earth,” Guzman said. “So we wanted to bring that idea full circle.”
Guzman tried to implement bits of Oxford culture into the story through the illustrations.
“There are some little hidden Easter eggs in there that if you’re from Oxford or Ole Miss, you’re going to notice right away,” Guzman said. “There is a hat that says ‘I heart Oxford.’ There’s also a Hotty Toddy poster in my bedroom (in the story).”
Guzman said that the whole procedure from start to finish took roughly two years, including the writing and brainstorming process all the way to publication and release. She said that writing this book inspired her to further pursue what she loves — reading and writing through her education at UM.
“My experience with writing definitely encouraged me to pursue my passion further at the University of Mississippi,” Guzman said. “I was especially intrigued to take the editing, writing and publishing class here after going through the publishing process. I’m sure I will learn more things that I wish I would’ve known two years ago.”
Guzman said that if she could give any advice to students hoping to get published, it would be to remember who the true source of all creativity is.
“I would say that as you’re writing and coming up with ideas, to invite God and your faith into that process, because the Lord is the creator of everything,” Guzman said. “He’s the most creative. And so we only get our creativity because we’re made in His image.”
