The themes of identity and love amid difficult circumstances often show up in Rachel Toalson's writing, and no matter their age, gender or genre preferences, readers around the world enjoy and anticipate her hopeful message of bravery, transparency and the human capacity to change the world, at least a small part of it.She is the author of the nonfiction Family on Purpose series, which chronicles her family's daily journey into values and cultivates them into three books of spiritual essays; This is How You Know, a book of poetry on the daily ordinary that becomes extraordinary when filtered through the lens of poetry; and the Crash Test Parents series, a collection of books that celebrates the humor and madness of parenthood.Rachel Toalson’s journey into writing is a long and straight-line one. She began penning stories in small-town Texas on white computer paper back when she was a kid. When she got to college, she rose through the ranks of her college newspaper, this time telling true stories. That’s where her writing career began—sitting with sources, gathering information, soaking up the stories of everyday life.In 2015, Rachel ended her newspaper days as a managing editor, with multiple writing accolades accrued over the years, so that she could become a full-time author of both fiction and nonfiction. In her fiction, she enjoys crafting tales of quirky characters who are more than what they seem on first glance. In her nonfiction, she enjoys writing about real life, real love, real struggles, and the humor underlining much of our human experience. She writes middle grade fiction and picture books under the pen name R.L. Toalson; poetry, memoir and humor under Rachel Toalson; and narrative nonfiction stories and literature under Rachel L. Toalson.Rachel is an award-winning poet and a regular contributor to Huff Post Parents, Scary Mommy, Babble, a Bundle of THYME magazine and many other publications across the world. Born in Houston, Rachel lives with her husband and six boys in San Antonio, Texas, where she faithfully writes at least 5,000 words a day, five days a week.To get a free book from Rachel's starter library, visit racheltoalson.com/freebook/Read more about this authorRead less about this author