How It Started

How CTR’s Ring Came To Be

As an avid reader myself, I often wonder where some of the ideas come from for books I read. I thought I would share with you how CTR’s Ring came to be.

My son, Christopher, came home one day and told me a girl at Mel’s Diner in Roseville called him a “Jack Mormon” because he had ordered a Pepsi. I said why would she do that? How would she even know. He held out his hand and showed me his silver and black CTR ring.

I thought a lot about that moment, and how other members are aware of us, without our being aware of them. I mean, you can walk down a mall on any given day and there are going to be members all around you who notice the small things. You might be wearing a Cougar’s sweatshirt, or they saw you get out of a van with an “R U LDS 2?” license plate or the checkout girl notices your CTR’s ring—you get the picture. So after thinking about this, I wondered what would happen if someone who wasn’t LDS was wearing a Cougar’s sweatshirt they found left at a park, or got out of a car driven by an LDS friend, or found an abandoned CTR ring? It seemed like an interesting concept.

Initially, I wrote a short story that I thought would be appropriate for the NEW ERA, but then the NEW ERA stopped publishing fiction. My daughter, who was 15 at the time, said I should write a whole book because she wanted to know more about Cameron and Lauren anyway—so I did.

I wrote the first draft of CTR’s Ring (the short story) in July, 2002. I finished the book version around a year later. Then I started the process of getting it published, which could be a whole new book in itself!

Since finishing CTR’s Ring, I have written the rough draft of a sequel, as well as two other young adult novels. I’m having a terrific time writing and hope that you’ve had a lovely time reading CTR’s Ring.

I have been thrilled with the whole experience of writing and publishing and highly recommend it to anyone who loves to write. It has blessed me in so many ways to have completed such a large project for such a wonderful, young audience.

Cheers,
Melissa