Laura Martin, a former Clay Middle School teacher and Zionsville author, has published two books. (Submitted photo)
As a former English teacher at Carmel’s Clay Middle School, Laura Martin is a firm believer in encouraging students to read.
That will be one of her messages when she addresses The Guilded Leaf 13th annual Book & Author Luncheon from 11:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 19 at Ritz Charles in Carmel. The Writers at the Pavilion event is from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Ritz Charles’ Pavilion. Both fundraising events support the Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation.
“I’m going to talk about where ideas come from and the importance of making kids readers,” Martin said.
The other five authors are Danya Kukafka (“Girl in Snow”), Janet Peery (“The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs”), Pete Hernon (“The Great Rescue”), Ben Blum (“Ranger Games) and Amy Stewart (“Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions”).
Martin, a Zionsville resident, has written two books for middle-school level readers. Her two-book series are “Edge of Extinction: The Ark Plan” and “Edge of Extinction #2: Code Name Flood.”
“I have a new middle-grade novel entitled ‘FLOAT’ coming out May 2018, and another middle-grade novel coming out in 2019 that is currently untitled,” Martin said. “’FLOAT’ is science-fiction, but the novel in 2019 is going to be more realistic fiction.”
Martin’s third child, Levi, was born Sept. 26. She also has a daughter, London, who is 3 1/2 years old and a son, Lincoln, 1 1/2.
“I switched to being a full-time mother/author about a month after my first child was born in 2014,” Martin said.
Martin, from Lansing, Ill., graduated from Butler in 2008 and double majored in creative writing and secondary education.
Martin said author events like these are good ways to reach potential readers.
“My favorite thing to do is school visits, though,” Martin said. “I love talking to my readers and ‘putting my teaching shoes back on’ for a little while.”
Individual tickets are $70 for each event. For more, visit carmel.lib.in.us/foundation/tickets.cfm.
