Author Spotlight: Sarah D. Gordon

My name is Sally Barton, writing under the pen name Sarah D. Gordon, and I have been married to a wonderful man and my biggest fan for over 45 years. I have five grown children and four grandchildren. I live in Australia, and I am a writer and a tutor of children with learning differences. I love writing, teaching, reading, and travelling near or far from home. From the moment I was introduced to the library at the age of 5, my love affair with books and the written word began. I was one of those school children who loved it when the teacher said we needed to write a story. I always ran out of paper. Anything to do with writing, I adored. I’ve had many failed attempts at becoming published when my children were young, but despite that, I continued to write. It was during COVID, when I was stranded in Scotland for 18 months, that I wrote a picture book manuscript and entered it into a writing competition in Australia. I was awarded first prize for the manuscript and, at the same time, offered publication for it. This began my writing career.

I can’t honestly say what one thing inspired me to write but my love of words came from the moment I learnt to read. I always loved daydreaming, and I guess as a child, when I wrote stories, I was just ordering my imagined worlds onto paper. This continued into adulthood. Not to write is a strange thought to me.

I originally started writing for children, however, ventured into writing for adults. The Diary, which is a time travel romance, is my first published adult book. It is a story based on the early settlers of Western Australia. Near where I live, there are remains of a cottage where a family once lived in the mid-1800s, and it was this that inspired me to write this particular story. I love history and do a lot of genealogy for myself and others. This influenced my modern-day character, her job being in a family history research centre, but the fascination with the past, especially the bravery and spirit of the pioneers coming to a new land, was the inspiration for a book of this genre.

 

Some of Sarah D. Gordon’s works…

The Diary is available on Amazon, as well as other online book retailers in both eBook and paperback.

It is also available in paperback and eBook through The Wild Rose Press. It is written under my pen name, Sarah D. Gordon.

My children’s books are available in Australian and New Zealand bookstores, as well as eBooks. There are four titles in the Something Terrible Series and one picture book titled Goodnight Sheep. They are written under my name Sally Barton.

Another is also available in Italy, titled Camilla Capelli Ribelli.

The Diary Blurb

“I’m coming, Daniel,” Emma called, pulling her shoes from her feet. Tossing them aside, she plunged into the water. It was deeper than she realized, the icy water pulling the breath from her lungs, stiffening her limbs. She could swim. Her father had taught her when she was young, but now with her dress billowing out around her, anchoring her, she could not reach the little boy, watching in horror as he disappeared under the murky water. “Daniel,” Emma screamed, clawing at the water.

The boy surfaced in front of her, and she grabbed hold of him. “I’ve got you,” she said, wrapping one arm around his chest. Daniel thrashed wildly, panicked, his arms flailing, his fingers scratching at Emma’s face.

“Daniel, stop,” she said, spluttering muddy water from her mouth. Vainly she tried to push her free arm through the water, trying to inch herself and Daniel closer to the shallow side of the dam. “Hold on to me.”

Daniel flung his arms around her neck, his weight and that of her dress pulling her under. She surfaced, turning her face upward to stop her mouth from filling again, with the murky water. Then they began to sink under the surface again. Emma could feel exhaustion beginning to rob her limbs of any strength and knew this

was her last chance.

With one last effort, she pushed upward, this time finding herself nearer the lower embankment than before. She pushed Daniel away from her and toward the edge, his feet finding purchase on the muddy ground. He scrambled up the side. Emma, however, found no grip on the muddy bottom, and for the third time, she felt the water close over her head. She struggled to the surface, seeing with complete clarity Daniel’s stricken face watching her, his

little hand reaching out in vain toward her. Down again she went, exhaustion the victor now, the air in her lungs slowly running out.

Was this it? Was she about to die? Not an hour ago, he was making sandwiches and scones. Now she was drowning, shocked by the idea that soon she would no longer exist. But that thought was overtaken by the realization that Daniel would be devastated and that she couldn’t allow it. With a new surge of energy, she

struggled to the surface, the bank just out of reach. Then, without any idea how, she was lifted free from the water and deposited less than gently on the muddy bank next to two sodden chickens looking curiously at her. Emma spluttered, water dribbling from her mouth as she looked up at her savior, words of utter gratitude

ready on her lips. Her rescuer glared down at her.

“You must be the most stupid, idiotic person I have ever come across. It’s a miracle both of you were not lost. Your dress alone would have drowned you, even if you could swim.” William stared down at her, his fury clear, his trousers dripping with water.

Emma glanced to her side to see whether he was talking to Daniel. Daniel was the one who had been in the dam. She’d rescued him. But Daniel was nowhere in sight, and Emma struggled to sit, brushing a muddied clump of hair from her eyes. “I beg your pardon?”

William’s expression didn’t change, except to appear even angrier, if that was at all possible. “What the hell were you thinking? I’m at a loss to understand what you…”

Emma held up her hand, stopping William mid insult, her own anger building. She wanted to spring up to deliver her protest at this man’s words, but her sodden gown made that far harder than she’d hoped. With some effort, she untangled herself from the waterlogged fabric and struggled to her feet, water puddling around her. She planted her hands firmly on her hips, ignoring the water that dripped from her hair into her eyes. “How dare you speak to me like that?”

He stepped toward her, “How dare I? Do you know how close you came to drowning?”

Emma nodded, her eyes locked onto his. “Mr. Rideout, I can assure you that there’s no confusion on that matter.”