The Valley’s Loren Halloran has taken his dream of writing a book and run with it, recently publishing The Mysterious Ledge.
This 168-page book of fiction is for young readers. It’s published by AuthorHouse, an American self-publisher located in Indiana.
Halloran has a strong creative drive.
“Over the years I’ve written and recorded music and am currently on the Songwriters of B.C. CD with two songs, ‘Highway of Tears’ and ‘Swept Away’, a song I was commissioned to write in remembrance of the late Karrie Ann Stone, [who was] murdered in Duncan back in 2010,” he said.
Halloran said the storyline for his novel has been in his head for the past 24 years.
“It’s about a young caucasian boy, living in the Cowichan Valley who wants desperately to climb to the top of a nearby mountain to be out on the ledge. One day he naps in a clover field and dreams the rest of the story. He meets an old chief who takes him under his wing, mentors him and tells him stories,” Halloran said.
Dreams have been a theme in the author’s own life.
“It’s been something that’s been in me for decades. I packed it around in my brain for about 24 years. It was something my kids growing up knew about. I would pick the project up and put it down, going through life with its ups and downs of working and whatever. Finally I said, I’ve had enough of this. I was sitting in a restaurant one morning and two British ladies were talking. One said, we mustn’t give up the art of storytelling. And, oh my God, that pushed me right over the edge.
“I started writing this thing out and rewrote it about three times before it got to the point that I could throw it on Word. And then I hired myself someone from Bangladesh who does graphic design. I had 33 top of the line artists who wanted my project. I took it to a printer to have something tangible before submitting it to AuthorHouse because they looked like they wanted my stuff. I submitted to them and the next day they phoned me. When they found out that we had totem poles in our town, and Cowichan sweaters, they were in awe,” he said.
“I followed my dream and I wish to inspire others to do the same. Writing is my passion. I never gave up on this story, and to get it published. It has three parts, 22 chapters, and 48,500 words. The story is wholesome, sound, and bridges the gap between the white folks and the First Nations people.
“Amazon readers gave it a five star review before it was available to be purchased and my publisher and I are going to market the story to the big silver screen. It is like a Disney movie from years ago, the ones we watched on Sunday nights,” he said.
Volume One books will be carrying the book and the library will have it soon as well. The book is available on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble and AuthorHouse bookstore. The cost for the book is $33.99 U.S. about $43 Canadian, and $6 Canadian for the e-book.
