Author Jonna LeVan, seated, chats with a potential customer at the Market at the Barn craft fair Oct. 7. The Discovery Riders fundraising event was Jonna’s first book-signing opportunity since her children’s story, “He Meant You to Be You,” was published in September. (EXAMINER PHOTO | SHARYN KOPF)
Life often sends you down unexpected paths. And though Jonna LeVan first dipped her pen into the writing world at the age of nine, many years filled with beautiful moments and life-altering heartbreak would come between her and her first book.
That book—a children’s story titled “He Meant You to Be You”—was released in early September. But the journey to that moment had its fair share of unexpected twists and turns.
It all started with Jonna’s sister Jennifer, who was 16 years her senior. Jenny was not only instrumental to Jonna as a writer, but she had an impact on her life. When Jonna was young, her mother had to devote her time to take care of her aging father, who was in a nursing home.
“I was passed around a lot,” Jonna recalled, describing how she took turns staying with her five older brothers and sisters. “I spent a lot of time at Jenny’s house.”
During one of those visits, Jenny took nine-year-old Jonna to the Logan County Writers Group meeting. While there, the group set aside time for a five-minute free write. Jenny took a sheet of paper and a pen and shoved them toward her little sister.
Confused, Jonna asked, “What am I supposed to write?”
“Shh,” her sister responded. “Just write something.”
So she did. A short poem she described as “sad and tragic.” From then on, every time she went, Jonna was encouraged to write more. Eventually, that led to her turning in another poem titled “My Bear,” which became part of the group’s published anthology.
For years, Jonna tried her hand at other forms of writing, from scripts for puppet shows to articles for her high school newspaper to pieces for her church. Then she married and had children and “there wasn’t time to do anything.”
That became even more true when her son, Blake, was diagnosed with autism at the age of four. Everything changed and, where Jonna’s writing was concerned, she “walked away from it.”
Now 29, Blake still lives at home, but has some acquired language skills and has shown improvement with sensory processing. He struggles with life skills like safety and has difficulty with trustworthy communication and social relationships.
One thing that stuck with Jonna as she raised her son, though, was how difficult it was to find stories that connected God’s love to “the uniqueness of Blake.” She came across books about God loving all kinds of people, but they didn’t specifically fill that neuro-diverse world like Jonna wanted.
She soon realized it was time to pick up her pen again. And yet, she wasn’t ready to tackle that neuro-diverse world. Instead, she wrote a little children’s book titled “Jeremy the Miracle Mouse.”
Excited about her work — and simply because she talked to her older sister almost daily— Jonna called Jenny and read the manuscript to her. After all, she was her biggest supporter and encourager. And?
“She loved it,” Jonna recalled. “She said, ‘You have to publish it and don’t let them make you pay for it.’”
It would be end up being her last chance for such a conversation. Less than 25 hours later, Jenny fell down a flight of stairs and, just like that, she was gone.
Her voice shaking with emotion, Jonna remembered her sister.
“She was so passionate about things, but she thought her life was so small. That’s when I started getting serious about moving forward. Jenny was my biggest cheerleader. I had to do it for her.”
With this heartbreaking reminder of how short life is, Jonna finally took the next step. She contacted an editor, something she wouldn’t have done before. And she kept writing. But the books she finished didn’t go anywhere. Looking for answers, Jonna turned to God.
“I said, ‘I thought this was my season to write. I thought this was what You wanted me to do.’ And He basically told me to ‘stay in my lane.’” She knew what that meant. “God wanted me to write about autism, and I didn’t want to do that.”
Still, as often happens when confronted with a calling, Jonna couldn’t resist the nudge to meet a need, no matter how hard it would be. So, she “stayed in her lane” and started working on a children’s book about autism.
Within a couple of weeks, she had cranked out 85 percent of “He Meant You to Be You,” and sent it to her editor. “I think we’ve got something here,” the editor quickly responded, along with a list of industry insiders she thought would be interested.
Jonna’s book was eventually picked up by Elk Lake Publishing out of Plymouth, Mass. She said it’s “doing well enough” and she’s “perfectly happy with it.” A healthy perspective for a first-time author. She decided to publish under the pen name J.J. LeVan to “save people the trouble of mispronouncing my first name.”
Up next for Jonna—another children’s book titled “We Saw Mice.” This one centers around a psychiatric disorder called echolalia, which causes someone to meaninglessly repeat what another person says.
The main character, Shane, has a service dog that doesn’t understand how the boy’s family continually fails to see Shane’s attempts to communicate with them. But, in the end, “Shane will shine” with God’s help.
Born and raised in Logan County, Jonna has been married to Jon LeVan for 12 years, when they blended their two families. Blake is the son of Jonna and her first husband, Mark Green.
You can find copies of “He Meant You to Be You” at the Fun Company in downtown Bellefontaine, The Spotted Cow in Urbana, or online at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Walmart.