{What's On Your Kindle?} Barbara Jean Weber on The Welcome Sign

 

When 10-year-old Molly Parnell’s grandmother mysteriously disappears she and her mother travel to Cape Cod to take ownership of the house they inherited and find out answers about the sudden disappearance. But what they discover could be more dangerous and life changing than they ever imaged. Molly and her mother find a beautiful mermaid welcome sign in the attic and place it on the front door. Unusual things start to happen and they are flooded with visitors who claim they knew the grandmother.  The true powers behind the mysterious sign are revealed as Molly learns her grandmother was part of a secret organization working to keep balance between the magical realm and the real world. The magical realms placed an invisible veil of secrecy over the world to hide their true identities from the human world but allowing them to live among them  in secret. An angry rebel group of magical beings, tired of living in hiding is tearing down and destroying the magical cloaking fabric between the two worlds. If they are not stopped the magical realm will no longer be safe from the world.  As Molly and her mom embark on a dangerous and magical adventure throughout the magical realms to help stop  the rebels, she learns of her own magical powers and her strong family heritage connected to the welcome sign. Along the way, she teams up with new magical friends helping to keep the realm of magic safe from the eyes of the world and discovers that her grandmother was right all along. The world she thought she knew no longer exists, but an amazing world of magic woven into their world has always been hiding  in plain sight. 

The Welcome Sign is available at Amazon.

 

Barbara Jean Weber lives in Skagit County with her husband and two daughters, where she works as a speech and language therapist. Her novel, The Welcome Sign, was inspired when she was gifted a mermaid welcome sign. The more she studied the sign, the more her story evolved. She is currently an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Visit her website at https://www.barbarajeanweber.com/. 

 

 

Welcome, Barbara! Your book, The Welcome Sign, sounds absolutely awesome. Can you tell us the story behind that intriguing title?  

The Welcome Sign's creation began when I received a beautiful metal Welcome Sign as a gift.I love mermaids and my parents had found the beautiful sign with a Mermaid on it. The store was going out of business so they purchased the sign for me. After I received it as a gift, I had a series of  incredible dreams that became the basis for the story and featured "The Welcome Sign."  The Welcome Sign was written as the first book in a series of three. The second book is written but not edited or published yet and the third book is still being developed and is in outline form. 

Can you tell us a little about your main characters?

Characters:

Margaret Ellen: Molly's grandmother who disappears-In her 60’s. Margaret is a special friend to magical beings and has been working with the magical community for many years. Angela and Molly do not know anything about her magical past.  She worked undercover for the rebels to find out their secrets. She goes missing, presumed dead.  Her husband was killed early on in their marriage in a battle with rebels.  

Angela Parmell: Mom to Molly- In her late 30’s. Single/widowed mom, reserved, not adventurous at all. Very close to her daughter, very skeptical of the unknown. Angela enjoys a calm, peaceful lifestyle, nothing wild or adventurous. She is a very kind and generous lady. Very likable and encourages Molly to have a relationship with her grandmother.  

Molly Parmell : Angela's 10 year old daughter- adventurous, brown haired girl, always exploring, owns a cat: Cuddles. Dad left when she was 2. Very close to her mom and grandmother. Similar personality to her grandmother. She is always seeking adventure, action. Has powerful magic like her grandmother but doesn't know it initially. 

Garreth Simmons: Protector of Molly and her mom. Molly and Angela's landlord, mid 60’s, Owns the rundown house. More like a father figure to Molly and her mom. He has some history with Margaret and was asked to protect and watch over the Parmells.

Trista Deevins: One of the main Magical Guardians to Molly and Angela. She is a mermaid but now lives on land as a guardian. She is one of their neighbors-sent to keep an eye on the Parmells and keep them out of danger. Trista is stunningly beautiful and she has the same piercing green eyes as her son, Taran. Her long black hair is pulled to the side and braided over one shoulder.

Taran Deevins –Trista's son. One of the magical guardians. He befriends Molly. Taran is very adventurous.  He has long, black hair, eyes are green as the grass. He is about 11 years old.

Crystal Perkins-Investigative reporter-works for Warren Tracer.  She has short, black curly hair. Crystal is tall and slender. In her early thirties.

Warren Tracer- He is investigating strange and unusual events happening in the city. He is in his mid-late 60's. Beard, dark brown hair, handsome, rugged, in good shape. 

Valis Tar- He becomes the leader of the rebel group. Tall, muscular, long dark hair. Dressed completely in black. He wears a long faded black overcoat that comes to his knees. He wears long, black boots worn and dusty, black, leather gloves.

Where is your book set and why did you choose that particular location?

At the beginning of the story Molly and her mom are living in Popular Bluff, Missouri but as the story unfolds the location changes to the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod where the grandmother lives. As I was researching good locations for the book I read about Popular Bluff, Missouri and really liked the description for where Molly grew up. It was a lovely place near the Ozark foothills, filled with spring-fed streams, having a national forest, peaceful lakes and lots of farmland. Just seemed like a nice, peaceful, perfect location for Molly and Angela's home. For the main part of the story, I knew I wanted a coastal location since the basis of the story involved mermaids. Also, my husband and I both love the coast and try to visit our Oregon and Washington coasts at least once a year. I visited Cape Cod years ago and loved the area. It had a magical feel that I knew needed to be in the book. I have never been to Barnstable, Massachusetts but as I was researching the Cape Cod area, Barnstable had that perfect small town, coastal feel for the grandmother's beachfront lifestyle.

What part would you say was the most exciting to write about?

It's really hard to pick since this is my first book ever and the whole experience was overwhelming and rewarding. So hard to write a book. I had an outline that I had written up for each chapter and as the story progressed I moved chapters around, changed events. Chapters 10 and 11 were fun to write because there is a lot of action going on. Many secrets are revealed, new locations and more magical events. There is the big journey to the Great Valley in Chapter 11 which was fun to write about. It was fun to include vivid descriptions about the location/setting.

What's next for you?

I am continuing to work on and develop the 3rd book in the Welcome Sign series. I am also working on finishing a book I started co-writing with my mom before she passed away. I also have an outline I am working on for another book (not related to The Welcome Sign) called "The Cinderella Effect."