Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories about local authors and books on local places. Look for part two next Monday.

    At summer camp at the age of 12, Cathy Davis Gibson heard God speak to her.

    Not in a figurative way. She heard words very clearly tell her to go down to the prayer garden.

    The little girl was too afraid to follow the voice. But now, as an adult, she said her life is an ongoing dialog with the Lord.

    “It’s taken me all this time to realize ‘go to the prayer garden’ didn’t mean go to a literal place but to be with him,” Gibson said.

    Gibson, 45, of Chehalis, who recently published “This Song: How to Hear the Voice of God,” is just one of several local authors The Chronicle will feature over the next two weeks. Among their publications we’ll explore publications ranging from Gibson’s faith-based book to science fiction to juvenile and children’s literature and even an East Coast author who wrote a book tracing her family’s ancestry from their landings in the New World all the way to settling in Salkum.

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Sheila Morlan and Janet Free

Book: “Flypaper”

Genre: Adult fiction

    Sheila Morlan and Janet Free met many years ago when Morlan was providing daycare services for Free’s children. They struck up a friendship that has lasted many years and many adventures. Now they have one more experience to add to the list: becoming published authors together.

    Morlan, 43, of Tenino and Free, 45, of Olympia said they always tried to think of things they could do together that might one day make it possible for them to work for themselves. Less than a year ago, Morlan thought writing a book together might be a viable solution. Free said she had always been told she had a talent for writing and both women are very creative. Despite negative comments from many people around them that writing books was too difficult a choice, they decided to give it a try.

    Their book, “Flypaper,” was inspired by a true story. It follows the story of a young woman named Katie Anderson who at the age of 15 decides to run away from her alcoholic father and overbearing mother. Out on her own, she faces challenges dealing with adoption, love and even caring for the dying but the story joins her as she faces yet another hurdle: accusations of child abuse.

    “One of my girlfriends told me it was the best book to take on an escape weekend,” Morlan said. “She said ‘sometimes I cried and sometimes I laughed but I finished it and I wanted to keep reading.’”

    Authoring a book together, much like their long and lasting friendship, came easy to them, the authors said. Morlan did the leg work, piecing together the story and then Free went back to the free writing and added descriptions, dialogue and even filled holes in the action

    “I took her basic outline and created a book from it,” Free explained. “She does the first draft and I do the finish work.”

    Apparently their methods work. Within hours of sending their first draft out to four different publishing companies for consideration, they had four offers to publish the finished work.

    “I never could have done it without Janet,” Morlan said. “All the twists we were able to add to the story with two people working on it were amazing.”

    And fans of “Flypaper” likely won’t be disappointed. Morlan and Free are already working on a second novel, further following Katie’s life. They said if there is enough demand, they foresee the possibility of writing an entire series about Katie and including spin-off books on some of the more interesting characters she meets in her adventures.

    “People identify with her,” Free said of their main character. “She’s all woman but she’s tough and she perseveres. People feel for her and with her.”

    “Flypaper” can be purchased at all major book retailers.

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Cathy Davis Gibson

Book: “This Song: How to Hear the Voice of God”

Genre: Christian studies, autobiography

    Cathy Davis Gibson said she first heard God speak to her at the age of 12. Over the course of her life and some poor decisions, she said she lost track of that voice until a desperate night in a hotel room when she reached for a Gideon Bible and suddenly found her life’s purpose again.

    Her book “This Song: How to Hear the Voice of God” is meant as a testament to her Christian faith as well as an inspiration to anyone who may be struggling with theirs. It is an autobiography of sorts, with Gibson telling stories from her life and her struggles. But it is a different kind of prose. Written in almost stream of consciousness, the book includes phrases written in bold that are God’s words she said she hears spoken to her on a daily basis. She said she hopes the book will inspire more people to slow down and really listen to the messages they are receiving from on high.

    “I want people to spend more intimate time with Jesus,” Gibson said. “To be close to him. To know he’s always present, always speaking. I wanted to appeal to lost people. I wanted people who don’t know the Lord right now to read it and to come to Pentecost.”

    Originally from Oklahoma, Gibson was homeless when she came to Chehalis three years ago. An abusive husband had left her with a broken cheek, eye socket and nose. She lived in excruciating pain from the injury for years and eventually was able to receive a charitable donation for the reconstructive surgery. Before her surgery, she had hitchhiked to California, making a short stop in Chehalis on the way. Once she got to California, she intended to fulfill her life’s dream of becoming a movie actress but “chickened” out on her way to an audition because of her facial injuries. After about a month in California, she decided to return to Chehalis, where she had met some people at church, and where she would earnestly begin writing her book.

    “It came easily to me,” Gibson said. “I have a really good memory. It’s amazing how many little things I could remember.”

    Gibson began writing several years a go in the form of letters to her daughter, now 26, who was taken from Gibson at the age of 5. She said she wanted her daughter to know her and know about her life, so she started to write letters telling stories about her childhood and life.

    “I was writing stories to her about me and I got up to about third or fourth grade and I heard the Lord speak and tell me to tell her stories of faith and turn it into a book,” Gibson said.

    Gibson intends to continue writing and said she would love to turn “This Song” into a screenplay. She also holds on to the hope she may someday be able to fulfill her goal of becoming a professional actress.

    “This Song: How to Hear the Voice of God” can be purchased at all major book retailers and at www.treeoflife.com.

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Name: Eve Nielson

Book: “Operation Eden”

Genre: Science Fiction

    Eve Nielson had wanted to write a book for more than 50 years, but raising her son, going to college and working full time always took precedence.

    Now, at the age of 67, the retired Centralia resident said it’s never too late to accomplish a life goal. In fact, she said in retrospect she’s grateful it took her this long to put pen to paper.

    “You have to really understand a lot about yourself to write anything that has any meaning to it,” Nielson said.

    Her recently published book “Operation Eden” is a science fiction story with threads of philosophy, politics and commentary on current events. It is the story of people who are being secretly victimized by a coalition of very wealthy people who decide they want to experiment with genetic modification in humans and do so without their subjects’ knowledge or consent. The result are phenomenal changes in some of their subjects that the covert testers can neither predict nor understand.

    “It’s kind of an examination of what I feel has taken place in this country in the last 40 years and an examination of where I feel we went wrong,” Neilson said.

    Neilson’s actual training is in behavioral psychology and said she already knew a great deal of the science in her book when she had the idea to write it. But it took breaking her leg to slow her down enough to make her actually write the book that had been swimming around in her head.

    “I think it only took me three months to write the first draft,” she said.

    Science fiction is not the only genre that interests Nielson. The first book she wrote, a nature book about what happens to animals when they are taken out of their natural environments, is due out in January or February 2010.

    “Science is my favorite topic because it brings out all the possibilities,” Nielson said. “Some of what I write about it pretty believable in a lot of ways because it’s so close to what they’re doing right now.”

    No matter the subject matter, Nielson said she has a lot of other ideas and hopes to continue writing and publishing books.

    “I do have another book about someone I used to know,” she said. “If I can psych myself up I will write it.”

    “Operation Eden” can be purchased online at www.amazon.com and through Book ‘n’ Brush in downtown Chehalis.

    Carrina Stanton is a freelance writer who lives in Centralia. She can be reached at carrinastanton@yahoo.com.