Leesport, PA - Beth Carson of Leesport wrote her first book, "Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets," about sextuplets being born to Jon and Kate Gosselin. The book is a memoir of the events surrounding the births of the Gosselins' sextuplets, combined with inspirational Christian messages, representing the faith present in their daily lives. Published in October, the book quickly landed on the New York Times best sellers list, where it has been for the last five weeks.

Carson's love of children and desire to want to help out a neighbor led her to the Gosselins just a couple of weeks after their sextuplets arrived home from the hospital.

"I didn't know Kate at all, I just knocked on their door," said Carson, who had read in the newspaper that the babies were born.

At the time, Carson and the Gosselins were both residents of Wyomissing.

After hours and hours of feeding babies together over the course of approximately one year, Carson and Kate Gosselin got well acquainted. One day, they discussed the idea of writing a book. The discussion led to Carson having an epiphany later that evening when she mulled their conversation over and contemplated writing the book.

"I thought wait a minute, I have all of the facts - I have the background - I was there and I took a leap of faith," she said.

While Carson, 42, knew writing a book was something she always wanted to do, there was some initial self-doubt.

"I'm just a mom and I didn't even graduate from college - that planted a seed of doubt and I asked, who am I to write a book," Carson said.

She also said she had always had an interest in writing, but thought her first book would be a children's book.

Ultimately, Carson decided not to let her lack of formal training as a writer get in the way of one of her goals, and the next day she shared her thoughts with Kate.

"Kate seemed relieved and happy when I offered to write the book since she knew I was so familiar with her story," she said.

After that conversation they forged ahead with their idea and secured a publisher.

The process of writing the book took about a year, and in order to accomplish the task, Beth and Kate checked themselves into a hotel in Lancaster for a few weekends in order to set uninterrupted time aside.

"Kate and I would literally stay in our room for 72 hours and our husbands would take care of the kids back at home," Carson said.

While Carson is listed as a co-author on the book, she makes each of their contributions clear.

"They lived it and I wrote it," she said.

Their shared Evangelical Christian backgrounds provided the foundation for the religious tone of the book.

"This is a miracle - I felt a responsibility to give God the glory for that," said Carson, referring to the Gosselins' having six healthy children in addition to their twins.

Carson said she felt an overwhelming responsibility to share the Gosselins' story, realizing it was a bit of a "calling" for her to write the book, and she had an objective.

"I hope the book is an honest approach to things you don't hear in the show," she said, referring to "Jon and Kate Plus 8" airing on the TLC.

Carson has made some occasional appearances on the show.

Carson has been married to her husband, Bob, for 23 years and they have four children ranging from ages 9 to 22.

Now that she has accomplished one of her life goals, being an author makes Carson feel good.

"That's what I'm really proud of," she said. "It's kind of the American dream. Put your mind to it - little by little, day by day and in a year, voila."

Aside from being a writer, Carson is also an accomplished artist, selling her work through word of mouth. You can often find her in her studio.

"I use painting as my escape - it's almost therapy to me," she said.

•Contact correspondent Courtney H. Diener-Stokes at lifestyle@readingeagle.com.