(On Tuesday, October 15 the Friends of the Highland Falls Library will host Author Mary Laders, of Highland Falls, in a ‘Meet the Author’ event from 7-8 p.m. All are welcome.)
“I see ideas everywhere.”
That’s what Highland Falls’ Mary Laders, the author of five books published within the last three years, says when asked if she plans to continue writing.
We’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ that there are more books in her!
Laders is a retired New York State Human Resources director who has lived in Highland Falls since 2006. Since retiring in 2013 — with the exception of a three-year stint working at Village Hall here — she’s been concentrating on her writing, and has produced two children’s books, two ‘tween’ books, and, most recently, an adult mystery. However, it was way back in 2000 when she first starting putting words on paper.
“Writing, for me, is cathartic,” she said during an interview at the library last week. “Maybe it’s middle-child syndrome; in my younger years I never felt I had a voice. But look (gesturing to her books spread out on the table before her) … I guess I do have something to say!”
She’s a self-published author, and that’s one of the topics she’ll cover at her Oct. 15 talk at the library. In the writing and publishing of five books, she’s learned the ins-and-outs of the publishing world and is very willing to share that information. Her books all sell on Amazon, both in paperback and Kindle versions. She’s just starting to explore audio books as well.
So, about those books:
The two-book series for children is called ‘Life Lessons with Little LeaLea’ and tackles tough issues many children face — bullying and learning to accept those who are ‘different’ from you. The books (‘Are there Bullies on the Buddy Bench’ and ‘Different’) are very personal to her because her grandchildren are featured.
“They are fun books,” she said, “but they are meant for learning, too.”
The two children’s books may be her favorites that she’s written she said, because of that personal connection to her real life.
That said, though, writing her tween series, ‘Abigail and Her King,’ came pretty easily.
“They’re about coming to faith,” Laders said, “and parallel the story of Eve in the Garden.”
She says they are reflective of her finding her own faith, “at some point making my relationship with the Lord personal,” but also simply tell a good story.
“This premise was easy for me to write about,” she says, “be true to what the Bible says.”
There are most definitely more books in this series coming, Laders said. But …. she took a little bit of time off from writing them because she’s found she really enjoyed writing her most recent book, ‘Murder at Whispering Pines.’
She says she’s had a few good reviews on her latest book, and that makes her feel good, knowing others are enjoying her foray into adult literature.
Laders says while her writing is her career these days, its work she has to be “very disciplined” about — “I spend hours every day researching and writing,” she said, “and I really do see ideas everywhere. Life is beautiful. I’ve lost a great deal, but we all have to continue to move forward. Writing helps me do that.”
Laders will have copies of her books with her at the event at the library and will sell and sign them.
She’s looking forward to the evening, but adds that the self-promotion part of being an author is her least favorite.
“Maybe we can talk about that too!” she said. “I saw something motivating on television one morning that asked ‘how bad do you want it?’, and I felt as if I was being directly spoken to.”
It was that very day, she says, that she reached out to a fellow gym member (who turned out to be a member of the Friends of the Library!) about having written some books, and, as they say, the rest is history!