Contact Information:
Author: M. B. Weston (239-821-3769)
Press Release: Karole Davis (239-290-4473)
E-Mail: mbweston@elysianchronicles.com
Website: www.elysianchronicles.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Author M. B. Weston To Speak to East Naples Middle School Students
Scheduled dates are September 14, September 17 and September 19
(August 31, 2007 - Naples, FL) Naples-based author M. B. Weston is scheduled to speak to students at East Naples Middle School on Friday, September 14th, Monday, September 17th and Wednesday September 19th.
M. B. Weston, a 1994 Naples High School graduate and author of the book, A Prophecy Forgotten, will speak with students about her book, what it is like to be an author, and much more. She will also be signing copies of her first book, A Prophecy Forgotten, which will be available for purchase.
Weston has a heart for children, and though her original audience for A Prophecy Forgotten was the adult reader, she found that her book resonated with younger readers as well who were excited by the fantasy world she created with undertones of good versus evil. "I’ve written since I was small, and it has been very gratifying that I am able to reach the younger readers," says Weston.
M. B. Weston is not only an award-winning writer, but also a very talented and motivating speaker. She has been scheduled as a guest speaker at many schools and events throughout Florida. One of the teachers who attended last year’s East Naples Middle School event was Pam Prochaska, a Language Arts teacher. Prochaska commented, "Her personal experience with the writing, revision, professional review, and publication of her novel offers our students a realistic look into the world of successful publication. Many students were in awe that a "real author" related her sometimes frustrating experiences in such a simplistic and succinct manner. Most importantly, they identified with her in her continuing trial and error challenge of writing and revising which students experience every day. I can't imagine a better experience for young writers to witness first-hand."
Recognizing that it is not easy to gain then keep the attention of middle schoolers, Weston’s energy and enthusiasm for sharing her writing experience is inspiring. “My students thoroughly enjoyed their special day with M.B. Weston. Her presentation was extremely well prepared and interesting for the students. It was obvious that they enjoyed it from all of the questions they asked and the positive comments they gave when I had them review the day. It is also exciting that she is a local graduate. I am looking forward to having her come back this year,” says Dottie Hendershot, another Language Arts instructor at East Naples Middle School.
Like many who enjoy the fantasy genre, Weston started reading it as an adolescent. She started off with fairytales, then Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. She currently enjoys reading works by Clancy, Grisham, and of course, Rowling. She enjoys making up characters and striving to give them lives that readers will care about knowing. “My goal is to create a world that people want to visit again and again and characters that readers constantly want to read about. People want to go back to Middle Earth, Narnia, and Hogwarts. I want readers to feel the same way about Elysia.”
Weston broke into print in November 2004 when her poem, "Message in a Bottle," was published in the Arizona Literary Magazine. Two years later, she landed her first book contract with Archebooks Publishing, Inc. She currently speaks to middle school and high school students about writing and getting published, and she leads the Young Writer’s of Naples - a chapter of the Florida Writers’ Association for teenage authors. “The key to writing fantasy is to make it magical, yet believable. Too much of either can ruin the story. These workshops are designed to help find the balance between the ordinary and the extraordinary,” says Weston.
Available now, A Prophecy Forgotten (ISBN-10: I-59507-I69-5; ISBN-13: 978-159507-169-9) is the first in the Elysian Chronicles trilogy It’s a Tolkein-meets-Clancy fantasy novel about guardian angel warfare and treason that embodies the themes of faith, hope and living according to your purpose through this fantasy fiction story. Her next book, Out of the Shadows: Book II of the Elysian Chronicles, will be available in December 2007.
Weston is also available for book signings and speaking engagements along with youth and adult writing workshops. She can be reached at 239-821-3769, by email at mbweston@elysianchronicles.com, and her website is www.elysianchronicles.com.
