IRONTON — Franklin Furnace resident Kelly Skipworth will be signing copies of her first book, “The Twelve Ordinary Men,” a religious children’s book.

Skipworth will be at the Briggs Lawrence County Public Library’s Ironton Branch, 321 S. Fourth St. in Ironton, at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

She has been a freelance writer for several years in Southern and South-Central Ohio.

Skipworth earned her bachelor’s degree from Capital University, where she majored in history, comprehensive social studies and English education.

After graduating, she worked as a teacher of English at Portsmouth West High School.

While teaching, she earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Rio Grande as well as 36 post-graduate hours in the field of education.

Skipworth left the teaching field to become a full-time mother and author.

In addition to caring for her children, Skipworth writes Christian children’s books and curricula. Not only does she teach Sunday school, she also serves as the parish education director at her church.

The years of hard work have paid off for the new author. Her first book was published by Concordia Publishing House and released in January.

“The Twelve Ordinary Men” tells the story of Jesus and his 12 apostles from Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:14-20, Luke 5:1-11, and John 1:35-51.

Concordia Publishing House has more than 8,000 titles able to be used by all ages. Their children’s books are touted to captivate children using colorful pictures and strong writing.

Copies of the book will be available at the book signing for $2.50.

After the book signing, you can obtain copies of “The Twelve Ordinary Men” from amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and from the publisher, cph.org.

For more information about this program, please contact Lori Shafer at 740-532-1124 or lorishafer@briggslibrary.org or Kelly Skipworth at 740-574-6037 or kellyskipworth@hotmail.com.