Author Bio - Tricia D. Wagner
As a young reader, writers were like gods and goddesses to now author Tricia D. Wagner. She never could have imagined weaving tales like her favorite storytellers, until a fateful April dinner conversation with her husband about a lecture he attended got her mind whirling. By the end of that summer, she’d written 400,000 words: a speculative fiction trilogy. Wagner felt as if she’d emerged from a cocoon as some new sort of creature. She was hooked.
It was important to Tricia to sharpen her skills, and she immersed herself in workshops, guides, and writing communities, learning from editors how to hone her craft. She did this for years, and the result is her newly released novella The Strider and the Regulus, two independently published novelettes, four soon-to-be published novellas, and five as yet unpublished novels. She found writing to be a method for becoming the person she felt she was born to be. Wagner finds that writing inspires her to be a better person, truer to herself.
The ideas and substance of Tricia’s writing comes from a very deep place that is strongly stimulated by setting. Often, when she has completed a story, she feels as if she’s been to her story world, whether it’s on the map or not. She likes to believe all the places she writes about exist somewhere, somehow.
In writing her stories, Wagner was surprised and delighted to discover how real the characters become to an author; that for many writers, their characters end up as their most treasured friends. She loves to delve into them to mine their natures, secrets, and desires—to tell their stories with the legitimacy they deserve. In studying her characters, she finds she has the opportunity to shape herself, inching closer to the person she wants to become.
Wagner believes revision is magical in its power to make a good book great, and early drafts are only the beginning of a story’s journey. Any idea can wind up a good story, but with reflection and time and improvement, it can become art. Once Wagner completes a revision project, it feels miraculous how many fresh approaches have manifested and how much truer the story feels.
Wagner hopes her readers feel enchanted when they read her stories; that after completing one, it seems they’re drifting out from under a spell. This is exactly how she feels when she finishes writing a story. She hopes to that her writing might expand their minds, spirits, and worlds a bit, and she hope they fall in love with her characters and are moved by her artistry of language.
When she isn’t writing poignant works of literary fiction, Wagner is a Director of Adult Education – ESL Programs at a community college, a job and staff that she loves. In her spare time she enjoys refining her writing craft to discover new angles and landscapes that might enrich her writing palette. One such example is a recent course she took in learning to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, something that’s sure to end up in a story at some point. Wagner lives in Rockford, Illinois, with her husband and three darling cats.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tricia D. Wagner
Phone: 630-728-7474
Email: contact@TriciaWagner.com
A young boy feels born to be a seafaring explorer in the coming of age stirring novella, The Strider and the Regulus.
Thirteen-year-old Swift is a dreamer with his head in sea histories, sailing adventures, and legendary treasure… and a father who has other plans for him.
A masterfully written YA literary fiction story of a boy finding his own way.
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The Strider and the Regulus is another out-of-the-park homerun by author Tricia D. Wagner. The story is tight, riveting, and fun, and it will pull on your heartstrings.
This novel deserves a broad audience.
– Nick Chiarkas, author of the award-winning novel, Weepers.
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ROCKFORD, Illinois, April 1, 2021
A starry-eyed boy. A cryptic map. A mythical treasure. What perils await in the chasing of dreams?
Thirteen-year-old sea lover Swift Kingsley has a secret. Hidden in the yellowed pages of his beloved and ancient maritime book, he found a parchment—a treasure map—showing the mythical Star of Atlantis, an artifact that seafarers, for centuries, had sought and failed to claim. Swift wants nothing more than to be the discoverer of the ancient relic, but his father has other plans for his youngest son. Author Tricia D. Wagner weaves a timeless tale of coming of age and self-discovery in The Strider and the Regulus, the first novel in The Star of Atlantis series.
For months, Swift has craftily avoided the dreaded Justus Talk, a discussion his father, Justus, has pressed with all three of Swift’s older brothers. To Swift, a Justus Talk meant his father would bring his boyhood adventures to an end and propel him into a path to adulthood—a youth pre-med internship to be exact, robbing him of all freedom and denying him his beloved sea adventuring and his precious book, The Star of Atlantis, which spun yarns of maritime histories, pirate lore, and sea legends.
“It wasn’t that the thought of leaning toward medicine wasn’t intriguing. It truly was. The stories that Caius and Justus came home with were mesmerizing. The idea of all that work was daunting, but even that wasn’t too off-putting. But—all that suffering. And death. Swift couldn’t bear those dark places that Justus and Caius seemed to handle so effortlessly. If Justus forced him in, Swift would just end up disappointing him.”
In the shadow of his three older brothers, Swift feels small, always trying to fit in and never quite succeeding. Finding the ancient treasure map in his book was a godsend. The meticulous map of navigation, ports, and coves would lead him to pirate’s riches… it would lead him to the Star of Atlantis.
“If Swift discovered pirate treasure, he’d be rich and very famous too. What could Mum and Justus say? There’d be no call for growing up. A Justus Talk would be needless.”
Things seem to brighten for Swift when his father agrees to take his sons sailing, to teach Swift the ropes of navigating his brigantine ship, the Regulus.
But on the open ocean, Swift’s thirst for the sea takes over and he resolves to brave the North Atlantic on his own, with the ship’s dinghy, the Strider, to reach his destiny: the Star of Atlantis. It’s a perilous undertaking to be sure—the treasure’s guarded by murderous mermaids and an undead pirate called Grog Blossom, or so the old book’s tale says.
Will Swift’s risky jaunt as “Captain Corkscrew” elevate his status among his father and brothers? Or will it prove that they’re right, that his longing for sea venturing is nothing but child’s play?
“Many things, which you might pursue, are complicated like this,” said his brother, Caius. “The path isn’t always direct. Often, it involves a lot of work you might not’ve expected. And to be good at it, you actually must love it… Treating it like a passing interest, or expecting success immediately isn’t going to cut it... You have to learn to love the struggle itself, not just the win. You have to get really, really good at standing back up after you’ve been punched down.”
Tricia D. Wagner expertly crafts a story about finding oneself, about the joy of pursuing a dream, and charting your own course in life. Her modern-day literary fiction story is written so poignantly, using artfully chosen and sparing language, it seems a book of a different era.
YA and older middle-grade readers, along with adult lovers of YA fiction, will relate to young Swift’s desire to hang onto his boyhood and his dreams for as long as he can. As Wagner touchingly relates in her story, “Growing up isn’t about falling into line. It’s about finding your own way.”
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If you would like more information about award-winning author Tricia D. Wagner and The Strider and the Regulus, please email: contact@TriciaWagner.com. For more information, visit: www.TriciaWagner.com.
