Lysne Nolte never intended to be a writer.

The lifelong Lake Tapps and Lakeland Hills resident originally planned a career in business.

“I wanted to be an entrepreneur,” Nolte said. “When I was pregnant, I decided to start my own business with children, so I focused on childhood development.”

After three years of offering computer classes to children, Nolte accepted a job with nonprofit World Vision, a relief and development organization.

But when she found out five years ago that she was pregnant with her second child, the author inside of her began to manifest.

“It was something new for my daughter, who was 9,” Nolte said. “For about five years, it was just her, so I started writing to help her get engaged and to feel part of the process because she seemed standoffish at first.”

Nolte wrote “Big Sister, Babysitter: I’m Going to Be a What?”, a book that deals with a character – based on her daughter – who struggles to come to terms with the changes in her family and deal with a new baby.

Nolte said her husband, Drew, encouraged her to turn her journal entries into a book and get it published. She finished the book about two years ago and self-published it initially but “without much success,” she said.

Eventually, the book came to the attention of Oklahoma-based Tate Publishing.

“They asked if I wanted to work with them,” she said. “The target audience for the book is ages 8-12, so it’d be good for school libraries, maybe hospital gift shops …Christian bookstores, anywhere young kids are.”

The success of the first book has Nolte working on a series.

“Each one will take place in a calendar year,” she said. “I’m still working on the second, third and fourth book.”

For the followup, Nolte, now a mother of four children, ages 2 to 17, is basing the characters on those near to her.

“It’s called ‘Seasons Change, People Change,'” she said. “It’s about the main character finding out her dad is gay.”

Nolte said the concept is based on her relationship with her father.

“It’s my current life and my childhood intertwining,” Nolte said. “It’s a very sensitive subject, so I have to be careful.”

As a Christian, Nolte said, it’s important to find the midpoint between judgement and acceptance.

“I can’t judge. I can’t condemn, and I can’t condone,” she said. “But it’s about letting people live their own lives and hope they make the right choices about their futures.”

Nolte also has the central storyline for her third book planned, again mining her personal life for stories.

“Me and my daughter are going on a mission to Guatemala,” she said.

To fund the trip, they are selling customized flip flop sandals.

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For more information or to pick up the book, visit www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore. More information on the series may be found at www.facebook.com/bigsisterbabysitter.

For more information on Nolte’s fundraising for her mission to Guatemala, visit www.gofundme.com/Guatemala-2014 or www.facebook.com/flipflopwithamission.