Emma McCleary pens first book at 13

Emma McCleary has fond memories of exploring the Cleveland Metroparks woods and trails behind her grandmother Peggy Miller’s home in Ohio. She wanted to create a story based on those adventures with Grandma Peggy — so the 13-year-old wrote a 215-page fantasy book titled “River Rock Falls.”

“The Cleveland Metroparks are behind my grandma’s house,” Emma said. “It’s a forest, and she would take me and my cousins, and we would walk around there all the time and explore. That gave me the idea. (The book) is dedicated to her, too.”

McCleary’s main character, Magnolia, lives in Ohio too, as well as in the fantasy world of Geomagia, where a special stone behind a waterfall gives everyone their magic powers. When the stone erodes, so, too, do the people’s powers.

This book has been four years in the making for Emma. She started writing the story as a fourth-grader; she now is an eighth-grader at Foundation Academy. She said the book is written for third- through fifth-graders.

“I always loved writing, and I always wanted to do a big project,” she said. “The story was completely different, and I totally changed everything. They were just going to go on this adventure and find something and be done. And I made it so much more.”

She titled the book after the name of the waterfall: River Rock Falls.

“One day it just came to me,” she said. “There’s a waterfall, and there’s a stone, and there’s a pool of water it flows into.”

For Emma, the writing process wasn’t difficult.

“I would just write anywhere I could,” she said. “Usually, my cat, Snickers, would be there, too. We have an office in our house, and I have a desk there. I would sometimes write in my room, at school, in Ohio or on vacation. While writing, I always have a notepad. I just write whenever I (can) really.”

She said her writing style changed significantly between fourth and eighth grades, so she spent a great deal of time in the editing process as well. She also had help from two friends, Maggie and Nora Winnell, who gave both positive and negative feedback when making editing suggestions.

For the cover art, Emma used AI images through the Magic Media app on the Canva graphic design platform.

Paperback and hard-cover versions of “River Rock Falls” are available on Amazon. The book is dedicated to Grandma Peggy.

“She was really happy and really honored, and she cried,” Emma said of her grandmother. “She said, ‘It’s really cool to have a book dedicated to me.’”

What’s next for this published author?

“I’m writing the second one right now,” she said. “It’s a sequel of the first one. I’m still developing it. There’s like the main antagonist, Versipellis — it’s his return, and he sends out this fog, and it makes everybody sick. … It’s like a plague, and it’s about them healing everybody and them trying to find the serum to heal everybody and to make sure he doesn’t come back to Geomagia.”

When Emma isn’t writing, she still is engaged in creativity, working on watercolor paintings, charcoal paintings, pencil drawings and pen art.

BOOK PROLOGUE

“Beyond where we could travel was a mystical waterfall in a small kingdom far away. The waterfall was called River Rock Falls. This natural treasure had always seemed to shimmer peculiarly, and fetching water from this place of flowing water was part of the people’s daily routine.

“A story passed down from generation to generation said the falls had an enchanted stone behind it that gave every kingdom and individual in the land their unique magical abilities. The rushing water slashed down and rubbed off some of the rocks each year.

Many years went by. One day, though, the kingdom’s source of magic and power was threatened.

“A young woman collected a pail of water for her family. … Once she got to River Rock Falls, it seemed as though the waterfall had lost its sparkle, magic and purpose. She ran to the back of the falls, and to her surprise, the stone was gone! Erosion from the past centuries had rubbed away the stone. The woman dropped her pail and ran as fast as she could back to her family to tell them what happened. The people of the kingdom gathered to discuss the issue. …

“After warning her kingdom, the woman hurried to the woods to calm her panicked mind. … As she quietly strutted down this familiar path … she saw an injured fox. … She cradled the creature in her arms and bolted to the only place with hope.

“She sprinted to a pool of water. … This pond could transport anyone anything to Earth. She gentled placed the creature into the waters and wished there would be someone to help on the other side. …

“In Ohio, Magnolia strolled through the forest in her backyard. … She noticed something strange near her pond. When an arctic fox’s deep blue eyes met hers, Magnolia knew the time to act was now. She cradled the cold, wet creature in her arms just as the woman in the distant land had. … Soon, the fox was restored to good health. … A close bond formed between this family and the fox … named Luna.

“(Although) they did not know it yet, Luna was destined to do remarkable things; things that had never been seen or experienced before.”