Time for the big reveal. . .
Book Two in the Book of Mysteries Trilogy will be available in just a few weeks. It seems that The Book of Mysteries is at it again transporting those boys to foreign and wildly strange places. Be sure to join Charlie, Rafe, Dash, and Lizzy as they confront their fate and a myriad of monstrous characters in a battle to save Feyborn and the Earth. This is a book the whole family will enjoy.
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This fall, The Book of Mysteries: The Red Gemstone will hit the market on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Book 2 in The Book of Mysteries Trilogy finds the three boys, Lizzy, and their dogs again confronting Arabelle, or Drusilla if you prefer, but this time, they find themselves in Feyborn. There they encounter more fantastical creatures from myth and legend in their quest to stop Drusilla and the evil wizard Malcontent from destroying Feyborn and humanity. Unfortunately for the boys, this will not be the last time they confront Drusilla. It seems she has more lives than a cat. Book 3 in the trilogy, The Monster From the Depths of Time, is currently under development and will be out in 2024.
For me, writing this trilogy has been great fun and an act of love for the three little boys in my life. But once it is put to bed, I have decided to try my hand at a mystery that I first conceived of more than twenty years ago. I have started it many times over the years. with different beginnings different character names, different locations, so where it will go this time, I can't say. It is taking on a life of its own. Through all the various versions I have concocted, the basic plot generally remains the same, and the ending will be a surprise, I hope. Now that I have a few other books under my belt, I believe it's time to see this to its logical or perhaps illogical conclusion. Keep on the look out folks, who knows where my writing journey may lead me next. Wishing you happy reading. This past week, my first middle-grade fantasy finally hit the marketplace. And Jim and I celebrated with a bottle of champagne from the wonderful Domaine Carneros winery in Napa, California.
The Book of Mysteries: Grimstone Mansion is the story of Charlie, Rafe, Dash, and two dogs who are mysteriously transported to Grimstone Mansion by a magical old book. Their quest is to save a young sleeping beauty from the evil old hag who controls the mansion and it's frightening inhabitants. They must overcome their fears and defeat the evil creatures of Monster Moor, traverse Ghost Hollow, escape from the web of a giant spider, and cross a lake of fire to arrive at the cell where the sleeping girl has been imprisoned for more than twenty years. Filled with adventure and humor too, The Book of Mysteries: Grimstone Mansion is a book both kids and adults can enjoy. I'd never contemplated writing such a book even though some readers of my first book, Dog Days in Italy: How I Became an Expat Dog, had suggested I try a children's book. It wasn't until three little boys in my life asked if they were going to be in my books that I started to contemplate the idea. I must admit to using at least one of their ideas. Ghost sausages. Who ever heard of ghost sausages, Charlie? What started out as a little story for these young boys kept growing and growing and eventually became a 42,000 word book, the first in a trilogy. Book two, The Red Gemstone, is in draft form and will hopefully be out in the fall. And book three is currently being written. I ask myself, what happens after book three? Will there be more adventures of these three young boys and the dogs? Or will I again shift gears and work on something else? I guess it depends on which way the wind blows. For more than twenty years I have had an adult mystery novel in my head. I think it is time for it to finally come out and see the light of day. So maybe that's next. Just keep watching folks. You never know where my thoughts will take me and what might appear on the page. The journey continues. I hope you'll be along for the ride. Life goes on here in Fairfield, California, and the days pass so quickly that I have trouble keeping track of them. They say time passes more quickly as you age. So I guess that means I'm old. But I'm not admitting it. To quote Jon Bon Jovi, "I'm not old, just older."
As the hours fly by, I keep sitting in front of the computer and writing. I actually find that what I'm doing now is not that different than my life when I was a consultant. I worked from home for the last twenty years of my professional career and pretty much spent the days writing presentations, proposals, and other papers on health care issues. So now, while I continue to sit in front of the computer and write, I'm happy to say that I don't have to spend hours researching data on Medicare or long term care or other such issues. Now, the creative juices are flowing, and I feel alive with ideas. It has taken far longer than I had hoped for my first middle-grade book to be available, but it looks like it will be out in a few weeks time. The Book of Mysteries: Grimstone Mansion is a story of an evil hag, monsters, and three boys whose destiny is to rescue a young girl who has been locked away in the old hag's dungeon for decades. It is a story that will be enjoyed by both youngsters and adults. While this book has been in the process of getting published, I have finished the draft of book 2 of The Book of Mysteries Trilogy, The Red Gemstone. I anticipate this book will be available by the fall, assuming all goes well. Book 3 is still in the thinking stage, at the moment. But I am confident it will be completed this year. So, things are moving forward at a rapid pace. For those of you who enjoyed Dog Days In Italy: How I Became An Expat Dog, there will be another Dino adventure in the future. I Bark Therefore I Am: The Wit and Wisdom of Dino, has been sitting in draft form on my computer for months and months now. Once The Book of Mysteries Trilogy is completed, I hope to get that book market ready. And then what? Well, I'm happy to say that there are lots of possibilities. .Over the years, I have had a number of other book ideas that have been on the back burner, and I hope to get around to them in the not too distant future. Stay tuned, folks. There is a lot more to come. Six months ago, I had a manuscript. It was the first book in The Book of Mysteries Trilogy. Grimstone Mansion started out as something for my grandsons. They were all very intrigued by my first book, Dog Days in Italy: How I Became and Expat Dog, and they asked if they would be in my next book. So that got me thinking. And I decided to write a story for them. The story took on a life of its own, and suddenly I was planning a middle-grade trilogy.
With my first manuscript in hand, I began the tedious and disappointing and dare I say it, ego deflating, process of looking for an agent. Well, six month later, with a stack of rejections, I was ready to self- publish. I must say, that one agent said I was in her maybe pile, and a few others told me to send them whatever I wrote next. So it was not all negative feedback. But I still had no agent. With Dog Days in Italy, I took the plunge and actually did all the self-publishing stuff myself including the cover (which I understand needs some help), the formatting of the book for both eBooks and paperbacks, and the uploading to Amazon. I managed to do this with little trouble, but it was definitely something very new to me. For The Book of Mysteries: Grimstone Mansion, I wanted a more professional cover and layout design, so I began looking for publishing houses that do this work for self-published authors. I soon learned that self-publishing is not cheap. But, eventually, I found a company that would do what I needed in my price range. Then, the back and forth began. And it continues. After some trial and error, they developed a great cover design, and now they are working on a few illustrations. With luck, the book will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple books, and more by the end of this month. I am crossing my fingers, and trying not to be such a micro-manager. Stay tuned!! Like all English majors, I always dreamed of writing the great American novel. But other priorities, like having to work for a living, always got in the way. It's not that I wasn't always writing. But writing PowerPoint presentations and business plans just isn't the same. I wondered if I could actually write something that wasn't all bullet points. Well, when I finally tried, I was surprised to find out that I had a sense of humor. Who ever knew that?
My writing career began when I returned to California after living in Italy for almost a decade. It was the start of the Covid pandemic. As a matter of fact, we left Italy just days before the country was locked down. And a few weeks later, the United States was pretty much in lock down too. Well, it was pretty boring sitting around staring at four walls. So that's when I took up the pen - well not literally, of course. Does any writer use a pen anymore? I guess the keyboard is now mightier than the sword. The first thing I wrote about was my Italian journey. And who better to narrate that then my American Eskimo dog, Dino. Well, Dino became a much larger than life character in the book. He is a fine poet and he compares his artistic skills to the great impressionists. And, it turns out that Dino is funny. Don't take my word for it, many readers have said this. Dino's voice provided the perfect opportunity to question everything. to point out many human foibles and to throw in a major dose of sarcasm. When I began writing a second book about Dino (which will one day be finished), the three little boys in my life asked if they were going to be in the story. So this got me thinking. And I decided to write a story for them, one in which they are the stars. And thus, The Book of Mysteries: Grimstone Mansion was born. What I thought would be a little story grew into a middle-grade fantasy book and the first book in The Book of Mysteries Trilogy. Book 2 in the series, The Red Gemstone, is nearing completion and should be out before summer comes to a close. And thus, after all those years, it seems I am finally fulfilling another of my lifetime dreams, to write. Well, it's not the great American novel, but it's a start. And it is just the beginning. |
Author
Maree Church is the author of Dog Days In Italy: How I Became An Expat Dog and The Book of Mysteries: Grimstone Mansion, Book 1 in The Book of Mysteries Trilogy. Follow her adventures on social media. Archives
August 2023
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