Emma Holley (‘24) knew from an early age that she wanted to write children's books.
She now works at a Christian ministry called Answers in Genesis, where she writes content for Sunday school lessons and edits children's books.
In middle and high school, Holley was excited to teach younger children about God’s Word through puppet shows at vacation Bible school and children’s ministries at church. This kickstarted her interest in writing for children. She said it provided a way to minister to the younger generation.
Holley graduated from Taylor University in 2024. At Taylor, Holley originally majored in film and media, but soon realized it did not align with her future desires. When a professional writing clinic focused on children's books became available at the end of her final semester, Holley jumped on it.
At the seminar, Holley met Michelle Medlock Adams, a children's book author. This connection led to an internship. During the internship, she helped to edit and write “Dachshund Through the Snow,” a book for younger children. She said she fell even more in love with the idea of creating Christian children’s book content.
“During this time, I got to help edit her books, work with social media and make some memes for social media about the books,” Holley said.
Along with helping Holley get an internship, the seminar also helped her realize she wanted to switch majors to professional writing. She soon developed close bonds with her peers and professors in the classes.
It was in this major that she got to know Linda Taylor, professor of professional writing. Taylor became a mentor to Holley in her faith and writing journey.
“Professor Taylor has always been really encouraging and was always a cheerleader,” Holley said. “She was very good at catching when a quotation mark was in the right place.”
Taylor remembers Holley as a quieter student with talented writing skills and an attention to detail and editing. She also had a great sense of humor and enjoyed being in class, Taylor said.
She remembers Holley’s skill with words and knowing when and where to use them.
“She was really good at being a wordsmith,” Taylor said. “And I think some of that comes from wanting to write children’s books, specifically. Every word is so important because you don’t have very many words on a page in a children’s book.”
Holley now uses her wordsmith skills to edit children’s books and other projects.
She enjoys being able to work alongside a great team who all edit each other’s work, she said.
“I get to edit for my old professor, Dr. Lincoln Reed at Taylor, now, which I think is pretty cool,” Holley said.
Although she loves getting to create content for elementary kids, she is still cautious when writing stories about the Bible.
She has to carefully write content that aligns with what Scripture says, something that Answers in Genesis values highly, she said.
“Anytime you're working with Bible content, you don’t want to dumb down the content and try to make something cutesy that wasn't cutesy,” Holley said. “You can’t dumb down the truth, which can be challenging.”
She plans on continuing the passion that God gave her and encourages other students at Taylor to work for the Lord, even when it is challenging to find motivation in writing. What matters is that the work is for the Lord, Holley said.
“Something I struggle with sometimes is whether this is going to make an impact, but in the end I want God to be heard, not myself.”
