Martha Belle Wright of Auburn has done something every fledgling writer dreams of — getting a book published. THE LAST ENEMY, her book, is about a girl named Emily dealing with the pressures of rural life in the South. She also tries to understand her brother, Claude, who she later learns has dyslexia and an inferiority complex.

The novel was inspired from her experience as a teacher at Chandlers School and Logan County High School, both in Logan County, when she encountered dyslexic students. The story idea actually came to her 21 years ago while at church. When the service ended, she raced home and wrote a three-page outline. During that summer, she wrote the first four chapters. But it would be a tad over two decades (1996, to be exact) before she finished THE LAST ENEMY. (By the way, the last enemy is death.)

Wright plans to publish a second novel, MAMA’S MIRACLE, which is about a mother who never gave up hope that her brain damaged daughter would be cured. This story is based on her own life. Her daughter was stricken with encephalitis at the age of 19 months. It left the child an autistic paraplegic. However, this time Wright hopes to find a publisher — one that will publish her book and pay her for it. She is currently sending out summaries. Wright doesn’t write with the intent to make money. She would like to cover her expenses but she writes mainly to help people. She also writes out of enjoyment. Her love of writing came from her passion of reading. When she was little she read to escape reality. POLLYANNA was the book that inspired her to write. Her other influences are Robert Penn Warren, Jesse Stuart, and Pearl Buck.

And, boy, has she written. Short stories and poems of hers have been published in the now-defunct Southeast Writers Association publication (the publisher of SWA was Jim Erskine, who helped her to get THE LAST ENEMY published). While teaching at school, she wrote two three-act plays, TOO YOUNG TO MARRY and TO TELL OR NOT TO TELL, which were performed by her students. Her writing includes essays and articles for the church bulletin.

THE LAST ENEMY is $10. Anyone wishing to buy a copy can contact her at 110 Wilson Ave., Auburn, KY 42206. The novel is available in such businesses in Logan County as Riley-White and Oak ‘n’ Ivy both in Russellville, Cox’s Variety Store in Auburn, and Barnes and Noble in Bowling Green

Wright said it is hard for her to give advice for budding writers but perhaps an excerpt from MY POEM, published in the October 1996 THE SOUTHERN WRITER can help: “When I sat down to write a poem/I wonder who I’d be:/ A Browning, Tennyson, or Holmes./ No, no. I’d just be me.”