Excerpt
The sisters stood at the centre of a ring of white stones, they had hidden at the edge of the forest beyond the Academy and prepared themselves for a leap in time. The air was charged and cold as they joined hands to form a circle, and chanted:
Take us to an otherworld.
Show us how to turn back time!
Unlock the gateway and let us in
To the cloud world within.
They landed smoothly on the beach below the cottage of their Granna May, exactly two years in the past, according to the date displayed on their fit bits.
Synopsis
Time leaps are featured in my new fantasy fiction novel, The Crown of Wisdom, a book for young readers. Three young protagonists use their special time leaping skills to find wisdom and courage amid the challenges of a global pandemic.
A sinister virus, reducing our world population by one-third, has become unstoppable across the global population, despite all desperate attempts to stop it; and those in the highest danger of infertility being caused by the pandemic, must migrate to the “Cloud”.
Hidden in mysterious rooms of a cloud-based house and bequeathed to three sisters by their grandmother, are the secret portals to other worlds.
Yet first, they must gain entrance to the Cloud Academy to discover their way to gain the inheritance left to them.
The Mayor of Arryville has denied the young citizens the right to enter the Cloud Academy.
Enemies are plotting against the girls in their search for the Crown of Wisdom!
Our heroines will learn that their portal leaps through time will bring them the greatest secrets of ancient and future wisdoms. In this new classic tale of resilience and courage, the Arry Girls use the powers of divination and time travel to connect them with an alternative universe and find the only way to save the world…
Writing the book!
This book has been waiting in the dark corridors of my mind; waiting for its writer to be brave enough to share it with the world. Questions of ‘will it be good enough’, ‘does it read well’, and ‘will it appeal to young readers’, swam in my head for a long time. These elements of ‘imposter syndrome’ took time to be erased and for me to feel ready to share.
I was supported and encouraged from the sidelines by my family, my friends and many colleagues from the Edupreneur Academy and fellow authors in numerous writers groups. eg Andrew Jobling
Now, with the help of a brilliant editor and a wonderful publishing team, at Shawline Publishing, I am pleased to announce that my book is being released on September 25. I excitedly look forward to the launch date and begin my process of promoting the book alongside my publisher.
The writing process began years ago with some fantasy stories to amuse and instruct my grandchildren on becoming cooperative, collaborative, and courageous. These early adventures introduced the stories of how three sisters, the protagonists, used their special skills to take leaps in time and place into a Literal Land of Literature to learn life lessons and bring back the Key to Cooperation and the Ring of Destiny.
This new book is the third in the Arry Chronicles; a much longer adventure in learning from the past and future to right the wrongs of today. In this story, the protagonists are on the trail of finding The Crown of Wisdom; an ancient artifact hidden from view for centuries.
I accomplished the bulk of the writing during the National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, November 2021; a challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I returned to the pages during the next six months to polish, prune and revise to a standard that would attract a publisher. My luck was with me the day I sent off a sample manuscript to Shawline Publishing, a Melbourne-based publishing company. It was accepted!
I was surprised and elated at the results of this bold step; I had expected rejection – as I had heard that this is often the journey to expect when first publishing a book. With renewed enthusiasm and courage, I worked even harder on later revisions before presenting my pages for a professional edit. The last few months have been a whirlwind of further revisions, editing and proofreading and I now eagerly await my first proof copy.
Updates!
August 2
The final proof copy has arrived and I am excited and elated; the waiting is over. We are now in the final stages of publishing and you can order a copy of the book from Shawline Publishing.
What happens next?
Now the Book promotion journey begins!
There are several steps in this process; some that come before the book launch; some during the book launch and some after. I have watched some of my author friends move effortlessly through this process and I am now keen to follow in their footsteps. I am guided in the book promotion process by instructions sent to me by my publisher, Shawline Publishing. They advocate the preparation of a Promotional Plan to ensure that the book can be seen and pre-ordered by booksellers, libraries, and readers alike.
If you are keen to pre-order your own copy of The Crown of Wisdom from Shawline Publishing, you can do that here.
What I like best about this guided process is having a professional team beside me to achieve each of the required steps in sequence – a process based on their experience and expertise in the publishing world.
As the author of the book, I am regarded as part of the team; my role is to share the promotion of The Crown of Wisdom to my local distributors, libraries, and social media groups; and to be ready to do a book signing at the launch and author talks wherever possible. These are my tasks now in the final stage after the book is published.
I am still learning what is required of me as an author and finding the whole process an exciting adventure, beyond the book.
