![]() In the 1930s and 40s, Paul’s grandfather, Jesse Orton, was the Rose Island Lighthouse Keeper. The Island Adventures of Paul Stedman (TIAOPS), the second book of the Rose Island Lighthouse Series, focuses on Paul Stedman, a boy who also spent part of his childhood at the lighthouse. Please contact me if you would like a press kit or sell sheet for CCWC. The Curious Childhood of Wanton Chase was published in June 2019 and is available for purchase. And Woodhall Press published the book in both hardcovers as well as paperbacks to suit the need of every reader. CCWC is written at a middle-grade level to appeal to readers of all ages mature readers can enjoy the stories themselves or read them aloud to young children, who will love the pictures. The book is composed of ten such stories about Wanton interspersed with brief chapters of history concerning such subjects as Fort Hamilton (also located on Rose Island), life in America in 1910, and the duties of a lighthouse keeper. I’ve taken those memories and expanded them into short stories. Before Wanton Chase died at the age of 99, he recorded his memories of life at the lighthouse and gave them to the Lighthouse Foundation. ![]() His grandfather, Charles Curtis, was the lighthouse keeper, and his grandmother, Christina McPhee Curtis, managed the household, gardens, and their day-to-day lives. The Curious Childhood of Wanton Chase is about a boy who lived in the lighthouse with his grandparents from the time he was 18 months old until he had to leave the island to go to school in Newport at age seven (1910 to 1917). ![]() With a Book Team like that, of course, the book is amazing! Chris Madden, Colin Hosten, and Dave LeGere, three great friends I met in Fairfield University’s MFA program, published the Rose Island Lighthouse Series through their Connecticut-based company, Woodhall Press. Chris, my tremendously patient husband, even chipped in, assisting Julia with some of the layouts for the illustrations. My mother, Marilyn Harris, a retired teacher, provided us with all of the research assistance we needed, and my other daughter, Laura, helped by updating this website for us, to include information about this new, exciting project. Michaela Fournier, a gifted graphic designer and friend, designed the book’s interiors and crafted an awesome cover for it, too. My daughter, Julia, used her considerable artistic talent to illustrate the stories. In 2018 - 2019, I wrote The Curious Childhood of Wanton Chase (CCWC), the first of three books planned for the Rose Island Lighthouse Series. Book One: The Curious Childhood of Wanton Chase And I decided to include original illustrations for the story chapters and historical photographs for the history chapters, to make the books even more interesting and fun to read. I thought a good way to accomplish this would be to create books that included heart-warming stories about people who lived in the lighthouse combined with factual information about the lighthouse, Rose Island, Newport, Rhode Island, the United States, and the world during that time. So, the Lighthouse Series books needed to serve multiple purposes and to be interesting to readers of a variety of ages. And thirdly, the books were to be used as educational tools by classroom teachers who were planning to bring their students on field trips to Rose Island. Secondly, they planned for the books to be available for purchase online to let more people know about Rose Island and perhaps entice them to come for a visit. First of all, they wanted them to be available for sale in their Rose Island gift shop to provide visitors with a memento of their visit. RILFHT wanted this series of books to serve three main purposes. Then, my husband Chris and I took a trip out to Rose Island and I was sold. After meeting with the Trust’s executive director and seeing the source materials they had available for me to use to craft the stories, I was intrigued. A few years ago, the Rose Island Lighthouse and Fort Hamilton Trust (RILFHT) contacted me and asked if I would be interested in writing a series of historical fiction books about the small, mansard-roofed lighthouse on Rose Island, a tiny 18-acre landmass halfway between Newport and Jamestown, Rhode Island. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |