What Is Your Ambition? The Reasons to Write

By Beth Kephart

I think of my first book, all those years ago, as a letter—words of gratitude for the people I loved and for a child, most especially, who had taught me all that matters most about perseverance, integrity, and courage. Upon publication day for A Slant of Sun: One Child’s Courage, I swept the few downstairs rooms of our house of unnecessary furniture (and dust), prepared (with the help of my mother) a feast, and opened the door to my friends.

This was my ambition, then: T...