Mary Ryan
Middle Grade Author 

Mary considers herself primarily a middle grade writer. After starting out with newspaper work and freelance writing, she had four books accepted by Little, Brown & Co., followed by two chapter books with Avon Books. Although her six children provided a great deal of inspiration, Mary understands that while the trappings of life have changed, the emotions and feelings of her own early years are timeless.

Not everything came easily. Mary was thrilled when she won the SCBWI Work-In-Progress grant for the first thirty pages of a novel. However, the novel was never finished. "It's still languishing in a closet somewhere, along with an adult mystery," she said. "Sometimes you have to know when to move on and I'm glad I finally did. But every once in a while, it still calls me."    

In 2000, Mary self-published The Secret in The West Woods, set in a Geauga County park. She recently issued it as an ebook through Amazon.com. Mary later published The Christmas Dragon and an ebook titled Blue Flyers. She now plans to release her Avon books as ebooks. Chapters can be found on her website at www.m-c-ryan.com.

Another self-publishing effort, Twitcher McGee and the Wonderful Tree, features a small gray mouse. Currently, Twitcher has visions of being a Broadway star, as Mary is working on a musical version of her book. Stay tuned! 

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