Woodbridge man pens children’s Easter tale

By Josh Eiserike

Published: March 23, 2008

Nothing makes Jamey M. Long prouder than seeing children smile when he reads his books to them.

Long, 31, of Woodbridge, came into children’s literature by way of tragedy. However, now he would like nothing more than to make it his full-time profession.

Long, who works as an operations manager at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg and teaches business and IT classes at Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University, once taught technology and computer classes to kindergarten through eighth-graders at Holy Cross Academy in Fredericksburg. One of his kindergarten students there, lost her father in a car accident around Christmas 2005.

“It was just a tragic thing that happened,“ Long said.

Long said he helped out any way he could, even driving her to school when needed. But he wanted to see her smile for the holidays. And the way he thought to do that was through books.

“[The idea to write the book was] something she could enjoy every year, and have good Christmases after that,“ he said.

She inspired his first story, “A Possum’s Christmas Tale,“ which published in March 2007.

“It was a good memory for the holidays,“ Long said. “It’s about an opossum that discovers the true meaning of Christmas.“

Long said he made the central character an animal for his animal-loving student.

“She was excited,“ Long said. He didn’t tell her about the book until after it was published and he could give her a final copy.

His second book, “A Possum’s Happy Easter” just hit bookstores.

“I ran into a lot of kids that didn’t know where Easter came from,“ Long said.

He said the book starts with the fun parts, such as eggs and bunnies. But, he struggled when he got to the bit about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The book teaches that Jesus may have left, but is still in people’s hearts.

“It kind of puts a lighter spin on what’s going on,“ Long said, adding that he was trying to get the meaning across, but not make it so depressing that a kid wouldn’t understand the idea.

The book also includes visual references to the cross and Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.“

Although only two Opie the Opossum adventures are available in bookstores, about 10 others can be ordered online through Tate Publishing & Enterprises. Long said they should be in stores by the end of the year.

Each book is meant to get to the true meaning of each holiday or historic event. For example, in the birthday book, Long said that adults can learn new information, such as the symbolism of the cake and candles. The cake, he said, symbolizes baby Jesus and his swaddling clothes. The candles represent the lights of life, wishes to heaven.

Each book, even the historically based ones, features a moral lesson. The book about the Titanic features stories about giving up seats on the lifeboats for people more in need.

“They all have a good moral story,“ Long said. “You see it through the possum’s eyes, but he doesn’t impact history or make it so it’s not true.“

Long said he sent a copy of the Titanic title to Doctor Robert Ballard, the man who found the Titanic.

“He said it was a very good book,“ said Long, adding that Ballard replied with an autographed picture.

Long said future historical titles will be about pirates and the Fourth of July.

Before he tried to publish his stories, Long solicited help from Melissa D. Reedy, a friend from a Mary Washington MBA program. Reedy, 27, of Fredericksburg, is an internal auditor at the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.

Reedy said because of his work at Holy Cross, she wasn’t shocked when Long approached her.

“He really just said ‘I had written this children’s story, would you read it and give me your opinion on it,‘ so I did,“ Reedy said. She also contributed the forward in each opossum story.

“I really liked it,“ Reedy said. “They’re not only entertaining, but they’re educational too.“

To navigate the world of children’s book publishing, Long said he spent multiple hours in the Woodbridge Borders and Books-A-Million, leafing through books and collecting information about publishers. He sent a bunch of queries, but didn’t hear back for a few months. Even then, they were mostly rejection notices.

“I received an e-mail from Tate,“ Long said. “It said ‘publishing offer’ and I thought it was a joke, so I almost deleted it.“

But it was a legitimate book offer.

Long got interest from other publishers, but ultimately decided on Tate Publishing, a well-established Christian book publisher.

“Tate’s been very good to me,“ Long said.

He dedicated the book to the kindergartener. But, because other students were jealous, he said he dedicated the St. Patrick’s Day volume to all the kids at Holy Cross. Since he no longer teaches at Holy Cross, he doesn’t see the student—now in third grade—anymore, but sends her autographed copies of all of his new books.

The books also contain a link to download a free audio version.

He’s not sure about writing for adults, but said he’s thinking about maybe writing a business book.

“If anyone’s got a story out there, it’s worth writing it and submitting it, seeing what’ll happen,“ Long said.

Staff Writer Josh Eiserike can be reached at 703-878-8072 or .