I originally became a writer by default.
With no regard for the well-being of my family I trained as a classical
pianist, subjecting all around me to four hours of practice a day. I suspect
the pterodactyls that landed in my stomach before public concerts had something
to do with not taking up a career as a concert pianist. Instead, I found myself
learning how to put rear ends on concert hall seats, otherwise known as
orchestral management. My first job in that heady field entailed writing the
program notes for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. Now, that
was a job made in heaven. I wallowed in the music section of the Library of
Congress and luxuriated in the incredible privilege of being allowed to take
books home to read. The research was as much fun as writing the notes, if not
more so. My job was to write such compelling notes about the music on the
concert program that audiences would actually want to read them before scanning
the donor lists to see who may have donated more than they had. I had to
balance the light—what the composer liked to eat for breakfast, and so on—with
the heavy—how the musical composition was constructed. The job was an extension
of what I had enjoyed studying at college, but now I was being paid to do it. Try
beating that.
The writing continued as I zigzagged my way
through the marketing, public relations, and fundraising bastions of a motley
variety of business environments. This was all nonfiction, of course—or
supposed to be. In the meantime, I rediscovered the fascination of children’s fiction
when I read bedtime stories to my son, just as my parents had read to me when I
was small. As a single mom, I didn’t have the time or the mindset to devote
energy to writing my own children’s stories. I’m in awe of working mothers who
can do that. It was only when I retired from full-time work that the idea of
writing articles for children’s magazines swooped in one day. I have no idea
where it came from, but there it was, waving frantically at me. I wrote some
articles which miraculously appeared in Stories
for Children Magazine, and then I thought of stringing a few more words
together to make something longer, fictional, a little homage to the land of my
birth—Wales. And so my first book came into being, an adventure story about a
Welsh dragon who discovers an unorthodox and very smelly remedy for his
inability to snort fire.
It’s the exuberance of children’s
literature that has inspired my attempts to contribute to the literature, and
the older I become, the more exuberance I crave, but I hope I’m not the only
one having fun with my stories.
________________
Maggie Lyons is a writer and editor who was born in Wales and crossed
the pond to Virginia. Writing and editing business literature was fun, and editing
for academic publishers brought plenty of satisfaction—she admits she has a
fondness for nerds—but none of it matched the magic she discovered in writing
fiction and nonfiction for children. Several of her articles were published in Stories for Children Magazine and knowonder! magazine published a chapter
book—the entire book! She hopes her
stories encourage reluctant young readers to turn a page or two.
Vin and the Dorky Duet
Publisher: Halo Publishing Int. & MuseItUp Publishing
(Canadian e-book publisher)
ISBN:
978-1-61244-091-0 (paperback)
ISBN:
978-1-77127-073-1 (eBook)
Genre of Book: Children’s Chapter Book Adventure
About the Book:
A twelve-year-old boy named Vin, goes on a mission—reluctantly. He
doesn’t share the optimism of the knights of old who embarked on impossible
missions without a doubt they’d succeed. When magnetic compost
heaps, man-eating bubble baths and other disasters erupt, Vin comes close to
packing in the whole ridiculous business. He calls it Operation BS, his code
name for a mission to introduce his sister to a boy she has a crush on. He
doesn’t want to play matchmaker, but Meg’s promise to reward him with a David
Beckham autographed soccer jersey is a decisive incentive.
Get a sneak peek of the book at http://youtu.be/Qtgtp_rnAZ4
Her middle-grade adventure story Vin and the Dorky Duet is available as an
e-book at MuseItUp Publishing’s bookstore (MuseItYoung section), on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008AK7ALE,
and as a paperback at Halo Publishing International at http://halopublishing.com/bookstore/Maggie-Lyons.
Her middle-grade adventure story Dewi and
the Seeds of Doom will be released by as an e-book by MuseItUp Publishing
in October. Halo Publishing International will release a paperback version.
More information at: www.maggielyons.yolasite.com, and http://www.facebook.com/MaggieLyonsChildrensBooks
Follow Maggie Lyons at
Twitter @maggielyons66
You can find out more about Maggie Lyons and her book Vin and the Dorky Duet during her World of Ink
Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/9t24kgy