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Becoming author was no mystery

Local woman writes children's novel, with hopes of building a series around role models for kids

By Katherine Lewis

Monday, July 10, 2006

Lauren E. Smith didn't have to look very far to find her first editor.

Her nephew, 10-year-old Tyler Schroeder, was happy to read her first book.

"I sent it to him a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.

When he saw me on Thanksgiving, I have never see his eyes so huge. He told me, 'Aunt Lauren, your book was so good.

It was like something I would find out of a library!' When he said that, I knew I had something," she said.

Smith, who has lived in Naples for the past 10 years, de cided her nephew's reaction prompted her to look for a publisher. The first one she found, Publish America, accepted her manuscript and the 47-year-old can now call herself a published author.

"Ashley Enright Investigations" follows the adventures of the 12-year-old who lives in Donnybrook, Maine, with her parents and sister. Ashley Enright loves to wear her New York Mets baseball cap, ride her bicycle and write stories.

When she looks out her bedroom window one night and notices a light flickering in the window of an abandoned lighthouse, she doesn't call the police just yet. She decides to in vestigate with the help of her best friend, Josh Stewart, a comic book artist who specializes in a superhero named Jupiter Shadow.

Smith always liked the name Ashley Enright and decided that, since she did not have a daughter to give the name to, she would write her first books about Ashley Enright.

The book is the first thing Smith has written for publication since she began writing stories in the second grade. A fan of mystery novels herself, Smith said she wanted to share her love of the genre with children.

"I wanted to tap into innocence and be creative. I also wanted to write a book that didn't have the violence that so many books do," she said.

With that idea in mind, Smith makes sure that Ashley and Josh wear helmets when riding their bikes and are not afraid to ask a policeman for help.

"I want them to be good role models," she said. "I also wanted them to be real. They are not magicians or wizards. They are children. I also want to inspire creativity. My goal is to inspire a child to keep writing, to save what they have written."

Tyler said his aunt's book is "really, really good."

"I read a lot of books where the authors use really good detail and hers is better," he said. "It's awesome. All of our family reads her books and gives her feedback. I think it inspires her to write more."

Tyler, who loves "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings" series, has given his aunt suggestions, such as making the characters swim more or changing Ashley's mother's dialogue to make it more real.

Smith said creativity strikes her in the funniest places. She has written parts of her book in the doctor's office, while waiting for appointments, even while getting coffee in the morning.

"It literally just comes," she said. "With the first book, I was literally chasing the characters.

With the second, I knew more of where I wanted to go. But the important thing for me is to make the characters come to life."

To make her characters come to life, Smith draws on her life for inspiration. The character of Ashley is somewhat autobiographical, including her love of the New York Mets, Smith said. The character of Grandma Enright is a cross between Smith's own grandmother and her aunt.

Even the fictitious town of Donnybrook is familiar to Smith.

The town is a combination of the Maine she knows from visiting her best friend, who lives there, and Long Island, N.Y., where Smith grew up.

"Ashley Enright Investigations" has been a success for Smith, who has just signed a contract to get the second book of the series published. "Ashley Enright and the Mystery at Millers Pond" will be available to readers within the year on amazon.com or by ordering the book from a bookstore like Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Smith is currently at work on the third and fourth books, but unlike other children's book authors such as J.K. Rowling, she does not have a set number of books in the Ashley Enright series.

"The characters will tell me when I am done," she said. "Ashley is 12 years old and I want to keep the characters around that age. It is an empowering age for girls, especially."

Smith said the experience definitely has been full of surprises.

"What surprised me is that I could do it. I sat down and I did it," she said.

Tyler said everyone should buy his aunt's book.

"She is a good author and she is new, so a lot of people haven't heard of her," he said. "And, if they buy her book, she will get paid for it."

© 2006 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.