Andree Ory was born and raised in LaPlace, attending elementary school at St. Joan of Arc Catholic School and commuting to Dominican High School during her formative years.

That faith-based education inspired Andree, who spent five years as a missionary, before completing her education at the University of Holy Cross College in New Orleans, earning her Master’s in Marriage and Family Counseling.

She has since moved to Kenner and, today, works full-time as a nanny in New Orleans.

In between, she joined Crescent City Counseling, where her counseling blog, “The Blue Vase,” was published on the company’s website.

That year of counseling stoked her passion for psychology, her Catholic faith and writing.

The result is “The Blue Vase: Go-Getters Come in All Ages.”

“When I was trying to grow my private practice and getting my name out there as a counseling intern, as they called it at the time, my cousin recommended I write a blog — just to do anything I could to establish myself professionally,” Andree shared with me recently. “I wrote the blog for the company’s website under the supervision of my counseling supervisor, under whom I was accruing licensure hours. My uncle, a retired journalist, edited all of my articles, as did my counseling supervisor.”

Andree thought about making the blogs into a book after resigning to pursue other plans God had for her but didn’t seriously consider writing her own book until an October 2016 airport meeting, which readers can learn about in the afterword of “The Blue Vase.”
Although a veteran blog writer, Andree admits the writing process was difficult.

“I had to get over my fears and procrastination to write an introduction and afterword that would tie the articles together,” she said. “Sending the manuscript to the publisher was the easy part. Editing my mistakes and getting my friend to read my manuscript, once it was accepted, and continue to work with my publisher to reduce the errors took a lot of perseverance. I’m a rough-draft-submit-it-and-go kind of girl. That’s not what makes a good writer. Patience and perseverance over several drafts and resubmissions is what separates the men from the boys, so to speak.”

The result, Andree says, is a book that provides readers a sense of hope, realizing if the people in the stories, with their challenges, could overcome, so can they.

Months before ever starting, Andree said she knew God wanted her to write a book.

The how, what, where and when were the tricky parts.

“I just followed His lead step by step,” she says. “I looked on the back of the book I was reading, and that’s how I found my publisher. I prayed about each step, and kept knocking on doors until I found one that would open. I had help from trusted friends and spiritual mentors who helped me to understand God’s plan for me through each step.

“I just walked with one foot in front of the other, and He opened up the path before me when I was ready for the next step.”

Andree freely admits the process came with difficulties, adding nothing that’s worth it comes easily.

“The Blue Vase: Go-Getters Come in All Ages” is available on Amazon.com. To learn more, visit andreemarieory.com.

Fans and friends of Andree should be happy to know she has a couple of unwritten books up her sleeve.

“I plan to write across different genres and am currently working on a book,” she told me this month. “Please pray for me! I want to make an impact and lead others closer to God through my work.”

Stephen Hemelt is publisher and editor of L’OBSERVATEUR. He can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.