Merrimack Mom's First Book to be Published

Aug. 7 is the day that local writer Gina Rosati has long been waiting for.

It's been five years coming and the first Saturday next month marks the day that Rosati's first novel will be published.

“Auracle,” a book geared toward young adults ages 12 and older, will hit select bookstores as well as Amazon, Amazon Kindle and the Merrimack Public Library in less than two weeks.

Rosati, a 16-year resident of Merrimack who has spent a great deal of time volunteering in the Merrimack School District while her children have been growing up, said the book falls in line with the hot topic of late – the supernatural – but has nothing to do with vampires, witches or werewolves.

In “Auracle,” the main character, 16-year-old Anna, can astrally project (in other words, push her soul outside her body) at will. She generally uses her talent for fun, Rosati says, like attending concerts. But Anna's life changes when she witnesses a horrible accident while projecting and someone else enters her body.

Rosati said the book was a lot of fun to write, and it was a lot of work.

“It will be almost five years exactly from the time I sat down at the computer to the day it will be published,” Rosati said.

Rosati said she didn't know much about astral projection when she started writing, but she'd been experiencing sleep paralysis, something that people often confuse with out of body experiences, she said. So she started reading about astral projection and it all sort of rolled from there.

“I would be woken up in the  middle of the night by Anna and Rei (the two main characters) having conversations in my head,” Rosati said. "So I would get up and scribble down notes."

Rosati said she put together a draft and shopped it around. Ultimately, she learned she had a good enough voice to get an agent, and all this time later, her book will be published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillian Publishers.

Reading and writing have always been a big part of Rosati's life. Her very first job was as a page in a library at age 15. As an adult she decided she really wanted to write a book, so she enrolled in creative writing classes at Northeastern.

She entered a literary contest, got pregnant and had her son, then had her daughter, spent many years of their childhoods volunteering in the Merrimack School District.

In 2007 she decided it was then or never.

“I realized, life is short. If I want to do this, I should do it now,” Rosati said.

That was then. Now, Rosati said she can't wait for the release of the book. She signed a deal for a single book, opting out of the stress of trying to produce a trilogy.

“I wanted to have fun. Writing a trilogy is a lot of pressure,” she said.

If she could have her ultimate wish, Rosati said she would love to see her book in every library, an institution where her heart truly lies. Rosati said she's long wished she'd gone back to school to be a librarian.

But these days she's pretty happy with the title of author.

Though this is her first published book, she has written a free ebook, “The Cairn at Slater Woods,” which is available for download on Tor.com, another imprint of Macmillan. She is also working on a historical fantasy right now.

While she'd like to sit down and write long hours like she did while penning “Auracle,” Rosati has been instead familiarizing herself with the idea of self-promotion.

“It takes a lot to promote your book,” she said.

She's created a Twitter account, a Facebook account and a website, all of which are centered around promoting herself and other authors part of a group of 160 debut authors. She spends a lot of time sending out swag and corresponding with people who've read her advanced reader copy of the book.

It's not an easy process, she said, of writing a book. It's a lot of hours of drafting and developing and that's all before you even know if you can sell it to someone.

Rosati can't wait to see where this new publication takes her. She hopes to hold a launch party at Toadstool Books in Milford, she said, so she's trying to coordinate that, but she's excited to see the response after the book is published.

And before anyone asks, Rosati said there are two questions she'll answer for you right off the bat.

“No, the book is not autobiographical, and no, I can't astrally project.”

Look for "Auracle" coming Aug. 7 to the Merrimack Library and to Amazon.com. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon for $10.98 or for Kindle for $9.99.