Madeleine Calcutt: Author Of All Aboard! Jenny's Story Of The Mayflower Voyage

Despite a life time of writing, Madeleine Calcutt only decided to go "all out" to have her work published in the last few years. Describing herself as a "bit of a gypsy," Madeleine travelled extensively, teaching creative writing in many community centres across Australia.

After deciding at age sixty-seven that it was "about time" she settled down, Madeleine now lives in the picturesque township of Neerim South, in Victoria's West Gippsland region. She shares her home with Sam the dog, and Wilson, a rather bossy cat. Madeleine's grandchildren, Keira (15), Indi (11) and Sahara (3) live nearby, and support their "Binma's" writing efforts.

Through her grandchildren and career as a teaching librarian, Madeleine has a good understanding of what children like to read about - themselves.

As a result, all of Madeleine's children's stories are written in a style that ensures her young readers can picture themselves as the main characters. Madeleine has written picture book for younger children, and specialises in realistic story lines based on children's experiences.

While she recognises that fantasy has a firm place in a child's library, she prefers to leave the genre to other authors.

As the title suggests, Madeleine's current teen novel covers the voyage of the Mayflower and subsequent settling of America through the eyes of Jenny, the thirteen year old daughter of a Pilgrim family. With 'All Aboard!' not only being set four centuries ago, but on another continent, Madeleine engrossed herself in several months of research before putting pen to paper.

Madeleine knows that children love excitement, something that is certainly not lacking in 'All Aboard!', especially in the Pilgrims' encounters with the Indians.

'All Aboard!: Jenny's Story of the Mayflower Voyage" was published in 2011 by Lighthouse Christian Publishing. It is available through bookshops in Warragul and throughout West Gippsland, and has been picked up by schools across the district. 'All Aboard!' is also available through Amazon.com in both traditional book and Kindle formats.

Madeleine is currently in the process of reviewing her final draft of an adult novel, to be published by Red Lead Press in the United States.

The novel, 'Step of Faith' is about a young woman's desire for change in her life by running away from her problems. Rather than escaping from trouble, Caitlin runs into it in the form of Christian widower, Stewart Nottingham.

'Step of Faith' also deals with Caitlin's spiritual awakening, and her attempts to bring about a happy ending for her new romance.

If you are hoping for a spoiler, you are going to be disappointed. You will just have to keep an eye out for 'Step of Faith' when it is released in a few months, and find out for yourself.

Madeleine hopes to get her other children's stories published, as well her play and her picture books. She has joined forces with a group of women who are writing short stories, in the hope of publishing an anthology of their works.

Sincere thanks go to Madeleine Calcutt for allowing me to write this article. Your passion not only for writing, but helping others is a wonderful gift. Thank you for sharing it.

The Writer

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