Church 2008 Directory

Charlotte Lewis, a retired accountant, recently moved to Iola, Kansas. (A very small town in the Southeast corner of the state)  Charlotte is the mother of four, grandmother of nine, great-grandmother of five, and great-great-grandmother of two little boys and a darling baby girl.

Charlotte spends her days knitting, reading, and sometimes writing new stories. Her latest novel (‘Til Death Do Us Part) tells the story of how a man’s life was changed by a pandemic. Divorce, murder, and the realization that friends are important.

Charlotte began writing at an early age. When she was nine, her father bought her a Royal Silent Writer portable typewriter. As she recalls, it weighed at least 25 pounds but did have a carry case so she could take it anywhere. Her first published work was a letter to the children’s magazine “Jack & Jill.” At age twelve, Charlotte took a summer job as a dishwasher in a local cafe to earn money to buy typewriter ribbons (at 35 cents each).

In the 1980s, Mrs. Lewis worked for two weekly newspapers in Payson, Arizona as a classified advertising clerk and circulation manager. The editors of both papers published several of her short stories in holiday editions. She was a member of PAWS – Payson Area Writers’ Society and published several poems and stories in the organization’s publications.

An evening out with the grandson before his deployment

After leaving Arizona, Charlotte’s published works were pretty much limited to “letters to the editor” of her local newspaper (Pasadena Star News). She worked as an accountant for attorneys for the next sixteen years. Meanwhile, at home, she played a large part in raising some of her younger grandchildren. Her writing skills were used to compose absent reason notes to teachers. In 1998, she went to work as a secretary/accountant/shipping person for a major import company in Duarte, California. Her writing talents were called into play for various pieces of collateral material and daily correspondence.

Upon retirement, Charlotte moved to Vancouver, Washington, where she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She spent a lot of time on her front porch resting. As a result, she greeted her letter carrier nearly every day and they were soon friends. After a few months, she complained to him that she was bored. He suggested she try a Mature Learning Class at Clark Community College. As luck would have it, he was delivering Clark catalogs that day. And so Mrs. Lewis signed up for a creative writing class.

One of the first class assignments Charlotte chose was to write a story of at least ten thousand words. The story got away from her and grew to over forty thousand words, but the instructor read and edited every word. Eventually, this work became “Chris, a Mystery”, Charlotte’s first post-retirement novel.

Charlotte at the exhibit opening at CCHM

But the school didn’t take up enough of her time. It was one morning a week. So her letter carried suggested that perhaps she should find somewhere to volunteer. Her health had improved greatly over the first six months, and she was definitely ready to do “something.” The local senior newspaper was delivered that week – with a full page of volunteer opportunities. In January 2006, Charlotte was accepted as a volunteer at Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver. Her first assigned task was to very the inventory of the research library with another volunteer. She and that volunteer became good friends, and he has edited several of Charlotte’s novels, primarily her exciting adventure series on the Oregon Trail and Territory. (Becky, Rebecca, Anna, and Amanda) Charlotte resigned from the Museum in January 2009.

A recent picture of Charlotte Lewis

During her 3-year tenure, the Museum made use of her abilities as a writer. She created games and puzzles for the Museum website and worked on several major projects, exhibits, and publicity pieces.

Charlotte feels every journey is a prompt for a good story. She has recently released a novel with Eastern Europe influence garnered on a trip she and her youngest granddaughter, Jennifer, took the year Charlotte was 65 and Jennifer was sixteen. (“The House” was released in January 2009.) Another recent book is based on several trips to Chicago. “Bethany” was released in July 2008.

Charlotte is looking forward to traveling in the next year or so with her number two grandson. They are planning a trip to visit the ancient Inca ruins in South America.

As St. Augustine said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” Charlotte Lewis hopes that her books will not only let your mind travel but will entertain you as well.