MYSTERY SHE WROTE...
THE CROW CHILD
This project was not my first 'dive' into writing for Middle-Grade/Young Teen readers, but it was my first mystical-adventure plot that featured a true superhero as the main character.
Like a few of my adult plots this too began as separate novella style books specifically geared to [as one MG teacher described] the 'reluctant reader". However, the premise came from an unusual place.
In 2008 a young mother whose five-year-old son was born with Cystic Fibrosis contacted me. Her son's favorite superhero was Spiderman. Just before bed they often read several pages from a Spiderman comic. The night before, her son was despondent because: "I guess no one like me could be a superhero, huh? The mother knew I was working on a young teen mystery series, but wondered if I could write a book about a sick kid - who could also be a superhero?
I found this new challenge appealing. At first, I explored picture books for preschool children, with bug type characters, but after a few months of mulling various approaches I abandoned a bug-superhero book for preschool children. The book's main character definitely needed to be [a human] person, and one not only medically sick with whom kids could identify, but also kids with emotional issues as well and really - 'all' kids.
So, while I continued to ponder how to approach my superhero character, I continued to work on the young teen mystery series and a few more years ticked along. By 2013 I realized my character needed to be younger than Spiderman or Superman, but old enough to be an effective superhero and my greater target audience needed to be young to mid teen. Next I dived into medical research and the history of legends which pointed me in the direction of Ireland and the spiritual world of our North American indigenous people. Wow. Great stuff...
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A storm shot down from the mountains in a sudden gust right after breakfast at exactly 7:13 AM the same moment Margaret O'Day Clearwater went into labor. Then at 4:13 PM distant thunder abruptly came closer and louder and sent a shaft of lightening into a lone tree - catching it on fire at exactly the same moment Elijah O'Day Clearwater was born...
PART 1: THE CROW CHILD...Thirteen days before Elijah Clearwater's 13th birthday a series of vivid dreams hint of an ancient legend coming true through him. The first dream is of a chieftain leading an ancient clan in 15th Century Ireland. The second dream is of a chief leading a tribe of Blackfoot in 18th Century west central North America. Perhaps the dreams are an outlet for the stress of a school bully or perhaps they hint of Elijah's unusual destiny...
PART 2: THANKSGIVING IN ST. LOUIS...Five months after Elijah's 14th birthday a late birthday card arrives in the mail from his Aunt Mary. Her invitation sets in motion a second test in the evolution of Crow Child who develops even more unique abilities...
PART 3: THE SOUND OF RAIN...Turning 15 in hospital with the threat of surgery, a terrorist group begins another cycle of destruction. Elijah rallies to Crow Child's duty to face his third test using ‘all’ of his remarkable range of powers...
Author website: Patchwork Publishing, LLC
Read full chapters via: Sherrie Todd-Beshore | Substack
**Every writer's journey is the same, but different...In "FROM THERE TO HERE" a memoir, [of sorts] I share more detail of 'my' unique journey that may be of some help to others who find themselves compelled to write too...