‘Scranton’s Hope’: Mieka Garrison

Writing her first book took Mieka Garrison a while.

“I worked on it for several years — off and on,” she said.

But unlike most authors, getting it published was a short road for the Santa Rosa teacher.

She submitted the manuscript over the Christmas break and by February she was working with the editors at a publishing firm to ready the book for print.

“Scranton’s Hope” will be on bookshelves next month and is already available online for pre-orders through her publisher’s Web site, publishamerica.com.

“It’s only 91 pages but hopefully it’s an interesting read,” Garrison said.

Garrison has only seen a copy of the novel’s cover.

“I haven’t even received my author’s copy yet,” she said.

“Scranton’s Hope” is the story of a small town in crisis. Many of its citizens are losing hope.

At the same time, their spiritual leader Pastor Aaron Roberts is going through a crisis in faith due to a loss in his family.

“Their faith in God gets them through it,” Garrison said.

Growing up in Santa Rosa made it natural to write about small-town life, Garrison said. But she emphasized that the novel is not autobiographical.

“It was not based on one specific person,” she said. “It’s several ideas that I got over time and put into this story.”

Garrison will start her tenth year as a teacher with a big change. She is moving from teaching middle school English classes to being a first-grade teacher.

“I’ve always wanted to work with the little ones,” she said.

Garrison spent the first eight years of her career in La Feria. This will be her second year teaching in Santa Rosa.

Garrison already has plans for a sequel to “Scranton’s Hope.” She also writes poetry, much of it in a religious vein.

Submit Slice of Life suggestions to Managing Editor Lucio Castillo or City Editor Charlene Vandini at 430-6244 or charlenev@valleystar.com.