Local author pens new young-adult novel

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on November 12, 2022.

Local author Rita Peterson has published her second book, titled Bailey Brown and the Shadow People.

Local author Rita Peterson has published her second book Bailey Brown and the Shadow People, a young-adult novel.

The book follows heroine Bailey Brown as she walks the middle-schooler lifestyle with a twist of mystery when she is haunted by a spectral visitor one night hoping Brown will help uncover the circumstances of her untimely death thirty years ago.

Peterson’s second book hopes to spur on the youthful love of reading while connecting herself with her own family.

“Several years ago, I published my first book, and I did it primarily for my grandkids,” said Peterson. “I thought I would write them a book and make sure all their names were in it somewhere to fit with a character. They got a kick out of that. So now I started going on another one and that is how it started.”

Noting an imaginative side everyone has, Peterson hopes her writing is a way of inspiration for those reading.

“Everybody has a creative thing, and I think you really have to nurture that,” said Peterson. “Maybe you don’t see it now, but someday you will. It is so satisfying to create. Because I’m not a crafty person, I’m not terribly athletic, but everybody has a creative side of them. You are doing yourself a favour if you explore those sides of yourself.”

Seeing that creative side blossom through her writing, Peterson notes how a novel gives life to a story untold until written.

“Sometimes I think, I am sitting here for all these hours and hours, and nobody is going to see this. But that is not what is important,” said Peterson. “The process of writing is what I get out of it. It does not matter to me if this does not sell, because it is just part of who I am, it is what I do and create. Everybody has this creative vein in them somewhere, and this is mine.”

Publishing her second novel on Oct. 27, Peterson’s book is available through Olympia Publishers online at olympiapublishers.com.

“Reading is so important, if I can write something that people want to read, then that is a win for me,” said Peterson. “Part of the building process is about building a story and letting it build itself to a degree. It is tricky but worth it when you are finished.”