Former Santiago Twp. resident Marty Meyer-Gad recently published a new book and has made it available on Amazon.com.

 

The book — Kimsara Detective Agency: Dog Gone It — is the first book in the trilogy of Kimsara Detective books. The other two — Bully Pulpit and Whose My Daddy — have yet to be published. The writing is targeted for junior high readers and feature a fictitious Sherburne County town of Whistlestop, based on Santiago Twp.

 

“I taught junior high students who met challenges in very original ways,” Meyer-Gad said. “I wanted to capture their spirit while allowing them access to the immense resources available today.”

While the main characters are junior high students, the book’s appeal isn’t limited to that age group. 

 

“Adults reading it can appreciate the tenacity of junior high students when encouraged to trust their instincts,” said Meyer-Gad.

 

Meyer-Gad said she had several adult read early drafts of the book and they said the students were too precocious. 

 

“I told them they didn’t know Becker’s junior high students and refused to simplify the book,” Meyer-Gad said. 

 

Meyer-Gad’s recent book began as a National Novel Month’s challenge. During the month of November a group she belongs to — NaNoWriMo (National November Writers Month) — challenges and supports members to write the first draft of a novel in one month. 

 

“I took the challenge in 2012 when my first book, Seventy-Four Cents, was in editorial review.” 

 

Following that review, Meyer-Gad divided that 2012 manuscript into three books, thus creating the Kimsara Detective Agency series. After years of revising, the first book, Dog Gone It, has been published. 

 

The second volume, Bully Pulpit, deals with bullying in the school and is expected out by year’s end. 

 

In the third volume, which is still being researched, seventh-grader Sara Cowley (main character) investigates the accident that caused the loss of her family.

 

The gist of Dog Gone It exhibits Cowley dealing with the loss of her family as she investigates the disappearing of dogs. With her best friend, Kim, they form the Kimsara Detective Agency. Others join them and uncover more than they expected.

 

Meyer-Gad began Dog Gone It in November of 2013 while her other work — Twenty-Four Cents  — was in editorial review with one of the Loft affiliated editors. 

 

“I had started Twenty-Four Cents the same way as a  NaNoWriMo project,” she said. “NaNoWriMo challenges you to complete the rough draft of a 50,000 word novel during the month of November.” 

 

Meyer-Gad says she  had been toying with writing a book for seventh graders at that time. 

 

“The only thing I began with was the title: The Kimsara Detective Agency,” she said. “At the end of the month, I had too many ideas for one book so I broke it down into three books.”

 

All Meyer-Gad’s books are self-published, using part of her company name — Growth Affirm — as the publisher. Her books are available through Amazon and can also be ordered by bookstores. 

 

Twenty-Four Cents and Dog Gone It are also available as ebooks.

 

“When I first looked for a publisher for Seventy-Four Cents, some asked for my webpage, my blog, the number of Twitter and Facebook followers I had before they would consider my work,” Meyer-Gad said. “Others would accept documents only during certain time periods. Most (publishers) said if I didn’t hear from them in six months, they aren’t interested. Publishers no longer send out the pink slips.”

 

When Meyer-Gad saw that a self-published book made the New York Times top ten, she decided to self publish Twenty-Four Cents.

 

“The following two books from the Kimsara Detective Agency Series are also self published,” she said. “I just put the second volume — Bully Pulpit — on line.

 

Meyer-Gad, a former seventh-grade teacher, said she enjoys learning while she writes her books.

 

“I learn through research,” she said. “Also random ideas come and are integrated — like the use of a frying pan for protection in Dog Gone It. 

 

She says she enjoys writing scenes she would love to discuss with a seventh grade class. 

 

“There’s one scene in Dog Gone It, that would make a good springboard for discussing suicide,” she said. “I have yet to have an adult identify the scene.” 

 

The most difficult part of writing a book for Meyer-Gad has been the marketing, she says. 

 

“Even if you get an established publisher, the author is responsible for the majority of the marketing,” she says. “I have gotten so behind in marketing Dog Gone It, I’ve finished the second volume, Bully Pulpit.

 

Meyer-Gad says she got serious about writing when she was in the seventh grade. She attended a 4-H workshop where professors from the University of Minnesota gave the students writing points for a speech contest. 

 

She won.

 

She also said she had an excellent writing coach in high school. 

 

“I wrote for our high school paper and college literary magazine,” she said. “As a teacher, I wrote a lot of materials. When I worked for the Worship Office in Detroit, I edited and wrote training materials. While working for the Worship Office in Chicago, I wrote a three year Scripture series.” 

 

Meyer-Gad encourages those who have the writing “bug” to just get to “writing down your story.” 

 

“In the age of computers, it is easy to edit your work,” she said. “After you are finished, edit it, reducing the word count by a half. Your written pages should not all sound like overheard conversations. Expect to edit it many times.”

 

“My biggest hope from writing this trilogy is to provide creative reading for pre-teens to adults,” Meyer-Gad said. “My books explore grief and loss, what a coma is like, getting adults to take you seriously, varying cultures and religions, same sex marriage, developing confidence, homelessness, social responsibility and generosity.”

 

Meyer-Gad says some early readers of her book said  that some of the vocabulary is not familiar to teens. 

 

“I did not change it because I remember having to do book reports and identify five new words I found in the book,” she said. “I often couldn’t find authentically new words. Today, if someone doesn’t know what a word means, any electronic device can help faster than finding the world in the printed dictionary.”

 

Meyer-Gad and her husband, Bruno, moved to Mankato over a year ago to be closer to their son, Joshua and his wife, Becca and their baby, Riley. Bruno, who had been a staffer at the City of Becker for one day a week, left his position there October 31.

 

“Though I wrote about a fictitious Whistlestop, I pictured rural Santiago Township,” Meyer-Gad said. 

 

She wonders if locals will find it familiar.

 

For more information, Marty Meyer-Gad can be contacted at her address: 700 Agency Trail #201, Mankato, MN 56001, or her website: growthatfirm.com or her email at: growthatfirm@gmail.com.