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American Chronicle | Meet Award-winning Author Hope Irvin Marston

Award-winning author Hope Irvin Marston recently release her newest book Eye on the Iditarod: Aisling´s Quest, which is a biography written as an autobiography and published by Windward Publishing (An imprint of Finney Company). Eye on the Iditarod: Aisling´s Quest is Marston´s thirty-second children´s book. "It´s a biography of Aisling (pronounced "Ashley") Lara Shepherd whose goal is to some day run her own dogs in the famous Iditarod sled dog race held each March in Alaska," shared Marston. "Born legally blind, from the time Aisling was three she loved watching sled dog racing on television. My book, written from information Aisling shared with me in hundreds of e-mail letters, follows her through the mushing season the year she is eleven. That memorable year she conquered obstacles, dealt with heartbreak and loss and achieved victories, while keeping her eye on the Iditarod." In 2008, when Aisling was ten years old, she was one of three girls chosen from 8,000 nominees for a Real Girl of the Year Award, by American Girl. The award was given in recognition of her "demonstrating initiative, effort, impact and personal growth" toward reaching her goal of someday running the Iditarod. She exemplified those qualities by her dedication to rescuing, training and racing sled dogs. Marston shared, "I learned about her from an article in an online Maine newspaper my husband continues to read each morning. Since she lived in Norway, a town near Buckfield, I contacted her, went to see her and felt led to tell the world about this remarkable young girl with a broad vision, figuratively, if not visually." Marston also has two other books recently released My Little Book of Bald Eagles also from Windward Publishing and Against the Tide: The Valor of Margaret Wilson from P & R Publishing. She also has a current project, which is an historical middle grade novel, Sackets Harbor Powder Monkey. "It´s local history. I had hoped to find a publisher for it a couple of years ago. After over 20 rejections, I realized it must have major faults. I learned to identify them after attending Darcy Pattison´s Novel Revision Workshop in the fall of 2010. Since then I´ve spent considerable time re-writing the story. I had it professionally critiqued by respected children´s editor Paula Morrow (good decision on my part) and am now working through her comments and suggestions. Because it´s too late to find a main stream publisher in time for the War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebration, I am bringing this one out as an e-book," shared Marston. Read the full interview at American Chronicle | Meet Award-winning Author Hope Irvin Marston

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