Renée Greene Murphy Shares How Intuition and Heart Led Her to Create Award-Winning Books for Children
PHOTO: Renée Greene Murphy, author and counselor, inspires young readers to follow their inner voice with her award-winning books on intuition and self-esteem.
Empowering Young Minds Through Storytelling and Inner Wisdom
Renée Greene Murphy discusses her journey from school counselor to award-winning author, highlighting how intuition, grief, and motherhood inspired her to create books that nurture children’s self-trust and decision-making skills.
Renée Greene Murphy writes with a clarity and compassion that resonates deeply with young readers and their families. As the author of Your Heart’s Voice and the creator of Your Intuition Journals, she has brought a rare and essential subject—intuition—into the world of children’s literature with warmth, wisdom, and purpose. Her work doesn’t just tell a story; it teaches children how to listen to themselves, trust their inner guidance, and make choices that align with who they truly are.
What sets Murphy apart is her lived experience. With a decade as a New York City school counselor, a dual master’s degree in counseling, and a heart full of lived empathy, she understands children not just as readers, but as whole people. Her journey—deeply personal and marked by both grief and resilience—infuses her writing with authenticity. The tragic loss of her younger brother became a turning point in her creative process, transforming Your Heart’s Voice into more than a picture book; it became a legacy of love and healing.
Her work has rightly been recognized with multiple awards, but its most powerful impact is felt in classrooms, families, and in the small but profound moments when a child learns to listen to that quiet, guiding voice inside. In this candid and inspiring interview, Renée Greene Murphy shares the heart behind her writing and the mission that continues to guide her—one intuitive step at a time.
Renée Greene Murphy writes with heartfelt insight, empowering children to trust themselves and inspiring families with her meaningful, award-winning books and resources.
What inspired you to write Your Heart’s Voice and focus on the theme of intuition for children?
As a NYS School Counselor/ Sped Coordinator who worked in a Charter School for 10 years I saw first hand that there were no children’s picture books on intuition which would have been useful during my counseling sessions with Elementary School aged children. I always focused on a student centered approach-identifying and utilizing their strengths and building upon that as opposed to their weakness’ which in turn led to probably why they needed to see me in counseling…
I was always very intuitive as a child-the whisper in my heart grew louder as an I grew up, and I realized the more I listened to it-the more I made good choices for myself in life. I wanted to write and publish my own book on intuition as I entered motherhood as a stay at home, and felt the desire to create a book simply written for any child to understand and therefore use throughout life-to help them make good choices as well. This idea came about after I had my second child around 2018. I began writing my manuscript, and life took over, so I tucked it away in my closet. After the sudden and tragic loss of my little brother, Robert, at only age 33, he passed away in a car accident in the town I live in-I remembered my manuscript, and felt the urge to continue writing, it was then I added him as a main character to Your Heart’s Voice-as well as dedicated it to him.
My book was published a year later in 2023, and I’m proud to say has won 5 awards! The Family Choice Awards in 2023 & 2024, the Mom’s Choice Awards in 2024, the NYC Big Books Award 2025 and recently, the BookFest Award 20205.
How did your experience as a School Counselor influence the way you approached writing for a young audience?
Since your intuition is such a complex topic, I knew I needed to write my picture book in the simplest of ways-where a 5 yr old could understand it and an 11 year old would be interested in reading more of it. I used typical life lessons that most children could relate to as Jade learns in the story that when she listens to her heart’s voice she makes good choices and when she doesn’t she makes the wrong choice and feels badly. This creates cause and effect which is important for anyone to understand when learning about their emotions and their intuition/conscience.
“My intuition has shaped my decisions from small to large… and to this day it has never let me down.” — Renée Greene Murphy
Can you share a personal story where intuition played a major role in your life decisions?
When I had to decide on my second college and major. All my friends who were transferring to the same college as me (after 2 years of being together) were majoring in Education. The college we were transferring to had a very good Education Dept, but also had other good departments. I knew in my heart I didn’t want to just study what they were studying (to be a teacher) but I wasn’t sure what to do? I loved language. I loved to write, and help others, however, I also loved research and public speaking. I realized this would mean I would major in Communications Studies. But did I want to be transferring to college with my friends and study Communications and not Childhood Education with them? I weighed the pros and cons, and went with my intuition. I graduated with a 3.9 in Communications Studies at Cortland State. I went on to receive a dual Masters in School and Rehabilitation Counseling at St. John’s University, and then Touro University where I received a third Masters School Leadership. My intuition has shaped my decisions from small to large, whether it was the color of my nails to the names of my children and to this day it has never let me down.
What challenges did you face while transitioning from counseling to writing and publishing your first book?
I thought writing my first children’s book would be the hard part-and while it was no easy feat, especially since my book is directly related to the loss of my little brother. Marketing my book(s) are a constant challenge for me. I now have Your Heart’s Voice, as well as 2 journals, Your Intuition Journals ages 5-8 & ages 8-12, and they can be purchased separately or together (which is what my program is- Developing Your Intuition/ A Guide to Improving Self-Esteem & Decision Making). I have utilized all means of marketing and advertising and it’s a constant challenge for me…
How did your children’s love for books help shape the ideas and themes in your writing?
I feel strongly in the power of ones intuition, so it was a theme I was able to write about easily. When you believe in something I think writing comes more seamless. I want people to read my books and it spark an interest for them to use their gift of intuition, and see how effective it is to helping them make good choices and feel good about themselves, and keep the message going.
“When she listens to her heart’s voice she makes good choices… this creates cause and effect which is important for anyone to understand.” — Renée Greene Murphy
What do you hope children and parents take away from Your Heart’s Voice and Your Intuition Journal?
That they have intuition, and it should be trusted and used. The more you use it the stronger it gets, the more we see it works, the more we rely on it-the happier we will be. We can easily be put on our life’s purpose path-if we tap into our inner voice and make good decisions. We can easily diminish the stress and anxiety if we can utilize our gift of intuition-that’ what it’s there for!
How do you think building intuition at a young age impacts a child’s self-esteem and decision-making later in life?
It helps us make the right choice-which in turn boosts self esteem and confidence. When we get into the habit of using it we rely on it more and more, and we become good decision makers-as we get older problems don’t go away-we must learn to make good choices and that helps us relieve stress and chaos which makes us feel better mentally and physically and emotionally throughout each age of our lives.
Could you walk us through your creative process when developing the guided questions and activities for the journals?
I worked with a school administrator who helped me break down in the simplest form to making good decisions. What are the facts? What could go wrong/right? It’s a visual that helps break down the steps from our minds to paper in making good choices. We must write it down to see it-then find our calm (our mind and body must be in a calm clear state in order to tap into our intuition) this too is outlined in the journals, and then we can write down/draw what our heart’s voice tells us to to do.
It was important for me to break down the journals and make them geared towards the specific ages -the language, the pictures are all purposefully used for those ages so they can better relate and understand.
“We can easily diminish the stress and anxiety if we can utilize our gift of intuition—that’s what it’s there for!” — Renée Greene Murphy
What has been the most rewarding feedback you’ve received from readers so far?
Marketing-I never knew how difficult this process would be. I thought writing and publishing would be the hardest part-but marketing my book to the world has by far been the hardest. I have been on the local and state news, I’ve been in printed news, online digital news, magazines, book signing at major book retailers, small bookstores, libraries, schools, podcasts, social media posts/groups and ads, and I’m still trying to find the best and most effective means of marketing. I know my books are helpful to any age, and demographic, since your intuition is ageless. I’m proud of my books and want as many people all over the world to use them to help spark their intuition and assist them in making better choices that are align with their life’s path.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to create meaningful children’s books?
Find an niche and or topic that is not used already and write a book that can help others around that.
