Merced, California Nov 1, 2019 (Issuewire.com) - Mark M. Even, author and former IBM manager, is launching his debut novel, The Wonders of the Peculiar Parasol, A Dragonstone Story, on Sunday, November 3, at a private event at Somerby Golf Club in Byron, Minnesota.
In the spring of 2018, Mark and his wife met up with his niece, Gina, and her family for a few days in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Mark shared a children’s book idea. Gina then recounted that at a friend’s wedding in Lucca, Italy, in 2015, “the three nieces of my friend carried parasols into the ceremony rather than flowers. After the wedding, the three young girls and their brother and I invented a game that if one of the children twirled the parasol, it would transport them to a different location, and no one at the wedding would know where they had gone. One girl said that when she twirled the parasol, she went to England to have tea with the queen. Another went to Egypt and rode camels in the desert. The young boy went swimming under the sea with a purple octopus.”
After hearing this idea of a magical parasol over the course of their dinner, Mark and Gina fabricated the story of three young cousins who discover an enchanted parasol and learn they have magical powers.
Mr. Even says, “I grew up loving comic books and science fiction movies. As a child of the 60s, TV was a dominant part of my life, and the only reading I ever did was comics. The heroes were all teenage kids who came from many different worlds, each with a unique power. Lightning Lad could shoot bolts from his hands, Ferro Kid could turn into solid iron and steel, Saturn Girl could change the gravity around items or people, making it impossible to move.”
Mark has scheduled a November 11, 2:00 pm visit to Spalding Catholic School in Alton, Iowa for a book reading of The Wonders of the Peculiar Parasol and book donation, in memory of the Sisters of St. Francis who taught Mark from 1st to 12th grades and inspired his vivid imagination. Additionally, Mark will be donating copies of his book to the Rochester Public Library and other Minnesota libraries, as well as to area elementary and middle schools in the state.
As Mark often says, “Frequent your local and school libraries, thank an author or librarian, and read more books on National Author’s Day!”
Mark M. Even retired in 2017 after nearly 40 years at IBM. Once he started writing, he fully embraced the opportunity to create children’s characters and stories. The Power of the Emerald Ring, Book 2 of the Dragonstone Stories, will be released in January 2020. Read more at www.dragonstonestories.com.
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Visit www.gocwpub.com for contact details, review copies, photos, and an author bio.
Contact Laura Herrera at 209-266-8007 or laurah@gocwpub.com. Mark M. Even is available for interviews, podcasts, school visits, and author signings.
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