Gardnerville author releases first book

Gardnerville resident Tracy Clark, 44, found her calling early on in life.

The single mother of two released her debut young-adult novel “Scintillate” this week.

“Writing was what I always wanted to do,” she said. “I remember writing stories in middle school, and one of them made my friend’s mom cry. I learned it was possible to make someone feel with something I’ve written.”

“Scintillate” revolves around main character Cora Sandoval, who can see colorful auras around people. Everyone, that is, except herself; instead, she glows a brilliant, sparkling silver. As she realizes the danger associated with these strange auras, Cora is inexplicably drawn to Finn, a handsome Irish exchange student who makes her feel safe.

“What excited me is the idea of talking about metaphysics and energy between people,” Clark said. “I was trying to create a mythology to explain the experience of why certain people uplift us and other people drain us when we’re around them.”

The book is the first in a three-part series published by Entangled Teen.

“My biggest challenge was the world-building. I usually write more real-world fiction, and I had to be more creative making up things that might not exist,” Clark said. “I wanted it to come off more realistic.”

Clark has wanted to write most of her life, but wasn’t able to do it full time until her children started school.

Her children, 13-year-old Sydney and 11-year-old Cooper, are proud of their mother’s accomplishment.

“My son loved it,” she said. “We all cried when the physical copies came out a week ago.”

Clark is having a launch party 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Sundance Books in Reno. She also will do an author visit at Whittell High School on March 25.

The book trailer can be seen at youtube.com/watch?v=HVCOK3fWLx8

For more information, visittracyclark.org.