By Jillian Risberg 

What started out as a party favor for her daughter, Genevieve’s princess-themed fifth birthday party soon took on a bigger mission. 

“As things progressed, the story transitioned into a book of important life lessons I want to teach my daughter (now seven),” says author Joelle Speranza, whose Princess Genevieve was released in June 2020 (during quarantine).

Readers meet “Princess” Genevieve, who possesses such powers as being kind to animals, having fun without technology, expressing her feelings when she is sad, apologizing to her sibling and finding courage when she is afraid. 

It is then revealed that Genevieve is not really a princess — she is a girl just like you (the reader). The overall lesson: ‘you don’t have to be royal in order to have girl power.’

According to Speranza, we need to embrace a gratitude mindset and count our blessings, teach our children that we are limited only by our beliefs and we can overcome the hard times. 

“The world is a scary place and there’s so much to fear—but there’s also so much to celebrate,” she says. 

The story started out capturing everything about Genevieve, the author says to savor this moment in time at such a precious age, when little girls are truly coming into their own and developing  their interests and dreams.

She reached out to an illustrator on Etsy, who created an illustration of her daughter for the book cover. Then, she wanted one for the whole family (the characters in Princess Genevieve are based on the Speranza family — all part of the story, even the dogs).

“Pretty soon, I had every page in the book (24 pages) illustrated,” says the freelance lifestyle writer and book publicist, who’s previously self-published; so her mind naturally shifted towards publishing this as a paperback.

“I also added fun bonus content at the end of the book: Sing ‘The Girl Power Anthem,’ Find Sight Words; Learn Ways to Be Your Own Hero; Recognize Rhyming Words; Turn to Discussion Topics (for parents and caregivers); Color a Bonus Page; Art by my daughter, Genevieve Speranza (to make one of her first dreams of being a published artist come true).” 

The author wrote the first draft of Princess Genevieve on her phone and then took a few months to rewrite — wanting it published by her daughter’s birthday party but ended up taking longer once she changed direction.

You can find it on BookBaby.com, Amazon, and various online retail outlets. 

Each of Speranza’s books stand on their own.

Trash the Dress: Stories of Celebrating Divorce in your 20s is girl power for women featuring interviews with 70 young divorced women around the world. Learn how they moved on from marriage and ways to look at divorce as the beginning of the life you were meant to lead. 

In July the author also released a new children’s book, My Heart is in Your Heart (available on blurb) inspired by a phrase she tells her children every day. 

Speranza grew up writing stories, in high school she and her best friend applied for Teen People’s national news team. Their application was chosen as one of 35 — out of thousands of applicants. 

“It was the first example of how writing can make your dreams come true,” she says, adding that she also produced her own music ‘zine and Internet TV show for her college paper.

And she recently launched Female Founder Media, offering copywriting services to women-owned and local businesses. 

The author says expect more children’s books from her down the road, she is just trying to find the way. 

“I work full-time and have two kids so even though I have a ton of ideas and books I want to write, I don’t really get to focus on them,” she says, adding that writing a book for her son is on her list, and she has the concept already. 

On the reading side, some of her favorite genres range from non-fiction memoirs, to parenting and mindfulness/self-help. 

“Many of the books I read are from my clients,” but the author says she is currently reading Fearless by Rebecca Minkoff, Make Life Beautiful by Shea and Syd McGee, and Untamed by Glennon Doyle. She also loves The Danish Way of Parenting.

“It’s my passion to inspire and empower others to chase their dreams and live their best life, and so important for me to instill this in my daughter and future generations of girls (and boys, too),” says Speranza.  

To follow the author’s journey, visit Instagram: @thejoellesperanza or www.joellesperanza.com.