Local author dives into contemporary women’s fiction with latest novel

Local author Mary Frances Erler’s latest book, “Lauren’s Dark Passage,” delves into contemporary women’s fiction — a departure from her previous works of historical fiction and fantasy/science fiction.

“Lauren’s Dark Passage” is about a young single mom trying to make a new life for herself and her two children after her husband came out and divorced her, so he could have a male partner.

With no family of her own to turn to, Lauren uproots herself and her children from their native Texas, when she finds a job in public relations at a nuclear power plant in eastern Colorado. Alone and friendless, she finds hope when a coworker shows a romantic interest in her but unexpected circumstances complicate her new life when her teenage daughter becomes pregnant.

How Lauren deals with these challenges — and serious health problems — may resonate with many who experience similar life challenges and has a spiritual message pointing to hope in an unexpected place.

The photo on the cover, taken by her husband Paul, features a rainbow beaming across a stormy sky illustrates Lauren’s plight in the novel. The photo was taken of the Swan Range near Creston.

“I was glad she [the publisher] picked this one because Lauren, the main character in this book, it's kind of like she's going through an emotional storm. And so the story is kind of like that's why it's called ‘Lauren’s Dark Passage,’ because …it isn't ’til towards the end that she begins to see the light, I guess you could say, and that will show how the rainbow shows up because rainbows always come after the sun,” Erler said.

Although Erler’s ninth publication is a shift from her previous fantasy and science fiction “The Peaks Saga” series and historical fiction book “Voices in the Past” she said they are all linked in some way through a fictional family tree.

“There’s a thread that connects them but it’s more like a spin-off,” Erler said about “Lauren’s Dark Passage” and “Voices in the Past.”

While writing is Erler’s latest venture in life, book ideas and characters have held a place in her mind since she wrote the first drafts of some of her current books in her 20s.

“The characters live with you,” she said.

Writing was put on hold when she became a mother and to pursue a career teaching music in schools and private studios. She recently retired after teaching music for 31 years. She also spent time working for a newspaper and for the Forest Service.

“I kind of got busy raising kids and teaching music, which is the other hat I wore,” she said.

Then one day she pulled those first drafts out of the drawer and started writing again.

“In 2012, I released the first set of books that I had polished up and finished from 30 years before,” Erler said with a laugh.

“Then I was thinking, OK, well, wait a minute. There is more I can tell to this story, and so I started writing another one,” she said.

Eventually, she became interested in her family history, which she drew from in creating the fictional family tree of “Voices in the Past.”

“I was kind of pulling skeletons out of the closet — things that in the family tree were a point of contention,” she said.

Erler said she’s always been interested in reading, writing and music since childhood, recalling she wrote her first story, “Adventures of the Mouse on the Mayflower,” in fourth grade.

“I grew up in a rich family culturally because my dad, he was a chemical engineer, but his hobby was painting so he did a lot of artwork and we had his and his mother’s artwork around the house. He had also been active in bands when he was young and so he got out his saxophone and played for us,” she said. “Then of course, both my parents were avid readers.”

Erler already has the final draft of another book ready to send to the publisher.

“It’s another spin and it’s a standalone too. It takes one of the other people in the family tree and kind of investigates life from her point of view,” she said, pointing to a character on the family tree in “Voices in the Past.” “I have another book brewing on the back burner that will probably pull somebody off this family tree.”

Following the book’s April 25 release, a book signing will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 26 at Bad Rock Books, 615 Nucleus Ave, Columbia Falls. She will also have her previous books available at the signing.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.