Obert Skye believes in the power of the imagination and never letting fear hold you back.

As the author of the award-winning "Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo" and "Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret," Skye has found success in living his dreams by creating the magical world of Foo. On Oct. 31, Skye encouraged students at Kaysville Elementary, 50 N. 100 East in Kaysville, to experience the joy of having the courage to live their dreams.

Skye shared the steps he took to fulfill his dream of having "Leven Thumps" published. It all started with the step he refers to as dreaming.

"For a long time I dreamed about a place called Foo, the space between the possible and impossible," he said.

It took 15 years before Foo finally passed from the dreaming phase to become a story. Once he started writing, it only took Skye three months to write the book, but revising took an entire year. He also had to find a publisher, have the book reviewed by the publisher and edit the manuscript for grammatical and spelling errors.

Once the manuscript was cleaned up and deemed ready for publishing, he went through the creative development to come up with cover art and maps scattered throughout the book. Currently he is in the promotion phase of publishing and will visit 15 cities this fall and another 10 cities next spring.

Skye then shared three secrets of Foo. The first is to have courage and don't let fear stop you from doing what you need to do. One of the fears he had to overcome as a child was learning not to be afraid of cockroaches so he could have his own room.

The second secret of Foo is to think big and dare to dream the impossible.

"Supersize your dreams — read," Skye said. "Write your ideas down. ... Writing it down is a powerful thing to do."

The third secret is to be great — don't settle for being average. An example of this in the book is when Clover, a tiny character no more than a foot high, must conjure the Sid, an enormous creature, to save Geth, Leven and Winter. "No matter what you do, be great," Skye advised students.

Kaysville Elementary Principal Cleve Dibble felt the assembly was helpful in encouraging students.

"It's a unique opportunity these children have to meet, in person, a real live author and see that it is possible for them to think big and follow their dreams," he said. "This school is a reading school, and these kids love to read. This is an activity that underscores what they're already doing."

Skye said he enjoys connecting with students by doing the assemblies.

"The three secrets of Foo are not earth-shattering, so it is so cool to come and have the kids repeat the secrets to me, e-mail me, talk to me, write me a letter about how they're going to be great, how they're going to have courage, how they're going to think big, how maybe this small contact with them will have some impact on their lives," he said. "Hopefully it encourages them to be fantastic writers or fantastic at whatever they pursue."

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com