Author Lauren E. Smith. The Naples resident just published her first novel and has already started work on the second in her series for the tween crowd.

Naples resident Lauren E. Smith recently jumped this hurdle by having her first novel, Ashley Enright Investigations, published. Smith has a nine-year-old nephew who loves to read and who inspired the writer to create a world of her own.

"He's my first fan," she said.

Smith wanted to create characters that were good role models for tweens.

"It's a great, wholesome read for children," she said of the story that depicts young Ashley Enright, a girl in smalltown Maine who likes to solve mysteries with her best friend, Josh, a boy who enjoys drawing comic books. Smith stresses that the mysteries are not scary or violent, but challenge readers to try to figure out what is going on.

"Enright was my grandmother's maiden name," Smith explained. "I always thought that if I had a daughter I'd name her Ashley Enright. Since I don't have kids, she's come to life on the pages of a book. There's a lot of Ashley in me," she continued. "I've loved mysteries since I was a kid."

That enthusiasm for her genre has landed Smith a published book that sold out in one hour at her first book signing at Barnes & Noble May 19.

How did the author get her book on the market?

"That just happened as a fluke, really," Smith said. She found a Web site for PublishAmerica and submitted her synopsis the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The publisher asked to see the entire manuscript by the beginning of December.

Writing is in her blood. Smith's father was a reporter for the Daily News on Long Island and she has been writing since she was in the second grade.

Ashley Enright Investigations can be found at www.publishedauthors.net, www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

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Local author breaks through tough genre