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Voices in the Sanitorium spotlight

Amy Lynn Walsh • Nov 06, 2023

Please welcome author Amy Lynn Walsh as she shares about her journey from story idea to published novel.


How Voices in the Sanitorium Came to Be
In 2020, my urban public school was virtual due to COVID-19. I worked with a team of 5th-grade teachers willing to jump through hoops to engage students. We delivered work packets for students sharing devices with multiple siblings. We held educational challenges and drove from house to house with prizes. Best of all, we began giving virtual tours of local places with hope we’d help
students feel less trapped inside their homes.


I joined Meegan, one of the owners, on a tour of a two-story warehouse filled with vintage and artisan goods. Watching the recording later, I realized students had been enthralled as Meegan demonstrated items they had never seen before, from record players to kitchen gadgets. They were full of questions after the tour.


Two items at On & ON were the catalysts for the creation of Voices in the Sanitorium. One was a doll dubbed “Eleven” by the staff – when she would mysteriously topple over at night and her wig would fall off, she looked like the main character of Stranger Things.


The other was a leatherbound scrapbook that became Bridget’s diary in my imagination.


It was easy to pick a setting for the story. Since my husband and I are a bit obsessed with local history, I chose a place we had already investigated on-site and via microfiche at the Albright Memorial Library: the “West Mountain Sanitarium.” I already knew some facts about one of the patients I wanted to include in the story, Richard B. Smith, the lyricist of “Winter Wonderland.”


The ideas flowed as I began writing what I considered a fun, historical paranormal for teens. Halfway through writing the novel, I felt God steering me in another direction. The story underwent two more genre changes and audience changes before I finally knew where I needed to go with Voices.


By then, it was crunch time with my deadline, and I practically had to start all over – while recovering
from COVID!


Voices in the Sanitorium became a mother’s quest to get her daughter back as she investigates the spiritual, mental, and cultural aspects of her daughter’s life. It is also a tribute to an era in American medical history when citizens in the Electric City allowed their generosity and compassion to overcome their fear of tuberculosis.


More about Voices in the Sanitorium:
Relocating from Manhattan, teenage Aislyn must adjust to life near the abandoned West Mountain Sanitarium. One night, Aislyn joins new friends in the old ruins -- and seems to return home with a different personality. Not long after Aislyn purchases a diary written almost a century ago by Bridget, a young patient recovering from tuberculosis on the sanitorium grounds, strange things begin to happen.


About Amy Lynn Walsh
Even as a child, Amy Walsh continually had storylines cycling in her head. At times, like when she sat on her brother’s newly constructed Lego castle while daydreaming, this tendency must have been irksome to her teachers and family members. However, God has a way of making our ‘weaknesses’ His strengths and using our quirks for His Glory. Now, between teaching, parenting, and wife-ing, Amy writes a variety of Christian and clean fiction. Amy enjoys creating out-of-the-box stories with characters facing real-life challenges, including neurodivergence. She hopes her novels will remind readers that God's compassion is boundless and that He still changes lives.


Connecting Online:
Author page: https://www.facebook.com/walshmountainpublishing
Author group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wwwordsmithing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amylynn_walsh/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyWals27245475
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-lynn-walsh
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/amylynnwalsh
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/amylynn_walsh/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amy-Walsh/author/B08RRLKTXT

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