Poway mom publishes children’s book

By Emily Sorensen

A Poway resident has just released her first children’s novel.

Cindy Murray, a 26-year resident of Poway, said she was inspired by her own daughters and her time volunteering in their classrooms to write her novel “Sophie and Scottie’s Adventures of the Monarch Mystery,” which was released Monday.

The book, which is aimed for ages 8 through 12, tells the story of twin sisters who have mystery-solving adventures, thanks to a magical frame that allows them to travel into photos and pictures. In this first adventure, the 11-year-old twins travel to Mexico to figure out why the monarch butterflies have disappeared.

“I’ve lived in Poway forever, raised my kids here. I spent a lot of time volunteering at Tierra Bonita and Twin Peaks, where I read to the kids, or had them read to me,” said Murray. “And I thought, I could do this. I could write a children’s book.”

Murray said she wanted her books to be adventure stories, and “edu-tainment.” “There’s a lot of silliness in children’s books,” said Murray. “I wanted kids to take something away from my book.”

She also referred to her book as “environmental fiction,” as all the stories will deal with the environment, such as the butterflies of the first novel. “They have magic, mystery. The girls solve the mystery, have great adventures, all sorts of things.”

Her young heroines will also learn to trust each other, not only as sisters but as friends, and learn that they are tough, smart and capable. “I kind of empower these sisters to make decisions,” said Murray. “I wanted them to have responsibilities and chores, and to be respectful of their parents. One is a brainiac, the other is more adventurous.”

Murray said she used her own daughters, as well as the children she volunteered with, in developing how her fictional sisters interact. “I was inspired by my daughters, and interacting with kids in school,” said Murray.

Murray began writing her first novel in 2010, and spent about a year and a half on it. She then spent several more years trying to find a publisher, and finally her book found a home at Kandon Publishing, an independent publisher in San Diego. “It was difficult, because there are not a lot of publishers taking children’s manuscripts, and not a lot who are willing to take on an unknown author without an agent,” said Murray, “but I thought, this is my dream, and something inside me said not to give up.”

Murray has a contract to write four Sophie and Scottie books, and her second, “Sophie and Scottie’s Adventures of Something Fishy,” will go to the editor next month, with a 2015 release date. “I have a lot of ideas for Sophie and Scottie,” said Murray. “I could write this for many more years to come.”

“Sophie and Scottie’s Adventures of the Monarch Mystery” is available for purchase at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, or at Murray’s website, cindycmurray.com.