Lloydminster author, Racquel Mudryk, has written her first sci-fi novel called ‘Stars of Oraelia: A New Beginning’ in a planned trilogy. The 33-year-old mom of three young kids will be at Coles in the LloydMall for a book signing on Oct. 21. Her novel and her first children’s book, titled ‘When You Are Ready,’ are on sale now at Coles and online at Amazon.ca. Supplied Photo
If you’re a parent who writes books for all ages, the chances are good one or more of your kids will excel in reading at school.
That’s the case for Lloydminster author, Raquel Mudryk, a parent of three youngsters who is promoting the July release of her first novel, ‘Stars of Oraelia: A New Beginning.’
“My oldest is very good at reading. He’s excelled, he’s got a fifth-grade reading level and he’s just going into Grade 3,” said Mudryk, a stay-at-home mom.
Her nine-year-old son has read her first children’s book ‘When You Are Ready.’
Her first ‘Stars of Oraelia’ science fiction and fantasy novel, however, targets readers 16 and up.
Spoiler alert for fans. Earth was destroyed years ago and the few remaining inhabitants of the planet have been sailing through the universe on the Nimbus Explorer with space-born heroine, Alvera onboard.
Yes, they land on a new planet inhabited by other warring humanoids with humanity still hanging in the balance and Alvera needing to restore the power of Oraelia.
The story will pick up in the second of three books in Mudryk’s trilogy. Echoes of the Past will be published on Feb. 27 next year with the final book after that.
In the meantime, Mudryk is getting set for a book signing at Coles in the LloydMall on Oct. 21 from noon to 4 p.m.
“That will be exciting. They were really great and supportive,” said Mudryk, noting the store is currently selling both of her books.
The Vermilion library has also asked her to speak about her book at high schools in the area.
“I think I will set something up for that,” said Mudryk.
No doubt, Mudryk will tell students she’s always been interested in science fiction and fantasy.
“I’m a huge fan of Tolkien and I used to watch Willow before they redid it. It was one of my favourite kids’ movies. I’ve always been a fan of it,” she said.
Mudryk explains ideas come to her in waves, in dreams, or during late-night inspirations.
“I usually just write down my ideas but never do anything with them, but this story has been locked away in my brain for 20 years,” she said.
“So one night I couldn’t sleep, this was back in March, I started writing; I wrote to four in the morning and got out a couple of chapters and I was hooked. I had to finish this book.”
It’s a self-published book also available for sale online at Amazon and Kindle in different versions.
Finding time to write ‘Stars of Oraelia’ wasn’t easy for Mudryk while raising young kids and being in the third trimester of pregnancy, and with her oilpatch husband, Ryan, on the road a lot of the time.
“I thought I was running out of sleep, I was sore. I was exhausted, but I got through it and it was worth it,” said Mudryk, who has been holding the fort at home for nine years.
During that time, she also taught yoga and opened a small business selling women’s and children’s clothing she made herself.
Writing a book at home has been a blessing too as she could work at her own pace independently.
“I didn’t have someone tell me what to do. It’s my own thing. I actually have really bad ADHD, so as soon as someone tells me I have to do something, I don’t want to do it,” explained Mudryk.
Ryan acted as her beta reader, giving her the thumbs up.
“He loved the story. He would read it chapter by chapter, shared through OneDrive, so when he was away he could read and give me notes,” said Mudryk.
She wrote the book with a Word document, formatted and edited it herself and published it through Kindle Direct Publishing.
She’s also more comfortable being called an author now than she was in her first book when she would just brush it off and say ‘no, no, it was just something I did for me.’
“But this one, I am taking pride in it because it was something I worked hard at. I probably spent hundreds of hours writing it and formatting it. I’m proud of my work,” said Mudryk.
