Works in Progress

[Transferred from tamlykens.com with rebranding of the same author.]

ARDITH

Eleven-year-old Ardith must leave her homeland of Sweden when her father is stationed as king over conquered Estonia. Bitterly homesick, Ardith looks for belonging within the royal stables. Ardith sets her mind on proving she knows the victorious fate of the fascinating new colt she names Victor. Adventures follow, including mishaps with the stable boy, Peeter; offending the Town Council; and navigating through the assaults of a cruel villain. Ardith faces devastating opposition as she pursues her quest to enter Victor in Estonia’s Royal Races.

Ardith’s story continues in Part 2. Now at 16, and set on changing Estonia’s view of what women may do, finding fandom and success in the male-dominated games of horse-racing. But Ardith’s dreams come to a dramatic halt when the Town Council throws her father in jail, her mother is defamed, and all look to Ardith to take the throne. Ardith joins a team of unlikely heroes and sets out to restore her parents to their thrones, trying to escape what every other princess would want. >>The ARDITH manuscript is complete and presently being proposed to agents.

AMBASSADOR Series

Right out of high school, Lizzie James and her father Garner pull into the small town of Beckett, Massachusetts. Lizzie quickly secures a job at the local Christmas Tree farm, then goes to the one general store in town to see if her next assignment is the clerk behind the counter.
Racing against prophetic time and a raging enemy, Lizzie and Garner must convince bored teen, Eli, he, like them, is an Ambassador of the loved but absent King Redimere. Oh, and he can also talk to animals and call on invisible agents in a language he can speak but won’t understand.
Below the surface of the battle to find and convince other individuals of these fantastical identities (with only a town name to go on), Lizzie continues to grieve the abandonment of her mother. Tension squeezes harder when Garner is kidnapped and when Lizzie shows up to rescue him, she’s horrified to discover who’s leading the enemy squad. >>This series is presently in production.

Parable Park Magazine/Journal

(Author’s Note: Much of the following is reprinted from a similar report for a class at Northwest University, Kirkland, WA,2021.)

Vision

Created to build up diverse personality strengths in children and young teens through short stories, novel serials, poetry, interviews, illustrations, photography, DIY projects, and adventure quests.

Mission

Devoted to aiding readers to reach their full potential by educating and inspiring young people to understand themselves and their value, while introducing readers to their Intelligent Design: hard-wired with love and purpose. With hope readers will be fueled with knowledge of their significance, and power to find fulfillment in their lives.
Employing new writers and illustrators, matching ethnicities and personalities with characters for authenticity in the writing.

Diversity & Demographics

Offering literary stimulation for children, ages 5-12, around the world.

To maintain diversity and authenticity, Parable Park will hire the appropriate ethnic writers for the diverse Parable Park Kids, delivering accurate representation and relatability. Careful construction of the personalities and consistency in their behaviors in stories will incorporate the Myers-Briggs personalities rubric.

(Original art, by Sarah Keaggy, contracted specifically for Parable Park)

Activities within Parable Park for Readers