Marlton author Allison Thompson’s new book, “Broken Promises,” is being released today, and she spoke to The Sun recently about her background and how the township has influenced her work.
Thompson’s family moved to Marlton when she was 4 years old and she went through the district school system, including Cherokee High School, where she played field hockey. She moved away after she was married, but is now living with her husband and two children in her childhood home.
“I’ve always liked writing,” Thompson recalled. “It was probably back in middle school when I started writing short stories, which continued through Cherokee, where I took a creative writing class.”
In that class, students learned literary art forms that included children’s books and poetry. Thompson took a break from writing when she attended Camden County College (CCC), then Rowan University, to completely focus on her studies. She originally studied health and physical education before switching to special education.
“I liked (health and physical education), but it wasn’t really something I enjoyed,” Thompson noted. “So then I went back to study special ed.”
Thompson is now an English special ed teacher, a job she says has benefitted her writing.
“(Teaching) has definitely improved my writing, especially since now I’m teaching English,” she explained. “I’m re-teaching myself and realizing that some things I believed were right are actually wrong, and it’s helping me become a better writer.”
Thompson began her first book about five years ago. Released last June, “Promise?” is a dark fantasy, young-adult novel about a woman who falls for a demon hunter. In the story, Madison works hard to achieve her goal of becoming an art teacher. When a menacing red demon named Marcus reveals himself to her, threatening to take her life, Madison’s world turns upside down.
She escapes Marcus’s attack, thanks to Kyle, a veteran demon hunter, but realizes there’s a connection between her family history and Marcus’s desire to kill her. Family, friendship, and relationships, good and evil, a malevolent villain and human drama are all the backdrop to Madison and Kyle’s gradual love story. They desire to be together, but are helpless in the face of the latter’s essential dilemma.
Once finished with writing, Thompson learned she could distribute books herself online without the need for a traditional publisher.
“I realized on Amazon,” she acknowledged. “You can do everything yourself. So, I rewrote my story, edited it, and had a cover made and decided to publish it (there).”
“Promise?” brought Thompson positive feedback.
“My family were the first people I spoke to about publishing the book,” she recalled. “My husband has been a huge supporter for me. Also, a lot of my friends and co-workers bought the book and told me they really enjoyed it.
“When it was first published, it was mainly family and friends reading the novel and writing reviews,” Thompson added. “But now it’s expanded, and people from all over are buying my book.”
Her second release, “Broken Promises,” picks up where the first book left off and its pub date on Valentine’s Day coincides with the novel’s theme of romance. Thompson’s motivation for the new work stemmed from being a fan of the supernatural TV series “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.”
“I grew up watching the show and it just popped in my head one day and I thought, ‘Wow, I really want to write something like this,'” Thompson remembered.
She explained how a Marlton upbringing – and positive community feedback – have influenced her writing.
“Cherokee offers so many writing courses, and that really helped me learn skills like this,” Thompson noted. “The community has supported me by buying my books, and it means a lot to me.”
“Broken Promises” can be purchased through most major online book stores.
