BELHAVEN — Pantego resident Marjelene Whitley Watts wrote her novel to fulfill her mother’s dying wish.
She had started writing “Unwanted Visitor” in 2006, but she had set it aside when her mother took ill.
“When my mother got ill, she asked about it and said to go get it, ‘Don’t give up on your dreams.’ She passed in 2008,” Watts said.
Another interruption to Watts’ creative writing came when she and her brother were diagnosed with cancer. Watts was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2012. She agreed to treatment on the day her brother died.
“I could have easily thrown up my hands and said it was too much,” she said. “It’s so easy to give up and I wanted to so badly. But I kept thinking of what my mother said,” she said.
“Unwanted Visitor” is the story of a troubled girl whose problems only get worse as she gets older. She starts hearing voices, and she realizes she has a split personality.
Watts said the idea came to her during a big storm. She was afraid of the lightning, so she closed her eyes and the words came to her.
“When the storm was over, the words were over,” she said.
Watts said she hopes the book would be an inspiration for anyone going through hard times. She also hopes readers would think of her character when a child approaches them with a problem.
“When a child comes to you and says, ‘I’ve got a problem,’ don’t turn your back on them,” she said.
“Unwanted Visitor” is the first in a series. “I didn’t know this is where the story was going. I just knew there was a story here,” she said.
She sold more than 60 copies of her book before the book was printed.
She started the next book, which is still in the research stage. Watts has interviewed detectives and started reading more about mental illness.
“I’m not a professional,” she said. “But, it’s interesting, very interesting.”
To purchase a copy of “Unwanted Visitor,” call Watts at 945-3053 or go to Amazon.com.