Last fall, I started working on a new series, the Amazing Gracie Mysteries. My seven-year-old had recently found the Amber Brown series and loved the character, and as I looked around for other chapter books that I felt like she could relate to, I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong - there are good lower-MG chapter books out there, but it got my wheels to turning. What kinds of books would I want her to read? (Clean humor, wholesome subjects, and healthy relationships between friends, siblings, and parent/child.) What kinds of books would she be interested in? (She would want short chapters, high interest plots and engaging subject-matter, and ease of readability with some nice illustrations thrown in there, too.) So I began writing the first book.
The story came to me quickly, and The Mystery of the Wooden Box was finished in a few weeks. I spent some time self-editing and then sent it to my editor for professional editing while I got started on Book #2.
By the time I had Book #1 revised, I had written Book #2, The Eerie Beach Light. So I sent that off to be edited as I began the marketing and publishing process for Book #1. I hired my favorite artist, Anastasia Yatsunenko, to work on illustrations for this series.
The Mystery of the Wooden Box is now available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. It quickly gained a #1 New Release banner on Amazon, and it has been doing well since. It has gotten some lovely reviews from readers, which I very much appreciate.
The Eerie Beach Light, now being illustrated, will be released soon. The preorder is live, and the ebook will be reduced to $2.99 in preorder only. Once I've released it, the price will go up, so grab a copy now!