Lorie Gurnett uses inspiration from her life for her writing. Gurnett says that her children were the inspiration for her novel’s two main characters. Treasure Kingdom is a coming to age story as two siblings struggle with the death of their brother, battling with mental illness and the grief that comes from that, including suicidal thoughts.
The siblings get sucked into an alternate world where they have to go on a journey to find each other and along the way they find biblical truths that help them find themselves.
Gurnett says that in the year of her editing, she lost nine people she was close to, and that that grief, and how one deals with it is reflected throughout the novel.
“I wanted to stress that you are stronger than you think,” Gurnett says about one of the main takeaways from Treasure Kingdom.
“I really value the human heart. I know growing myself, I always struggled with my own identity and feeling invisible and kind of worthless. I’ve struggled with suicidal thoughts, my husband has struggled with suicidal thoughts as well,” says Gurnett. “My desire is to let people know they have value.”
Gurnett has been nominated as one of the top ten for Treasure Kingdom in the fantasy category with her publishing company’s annual awards, the Author Elite Awards.
Usually the awards are held in the States with a black-tie formal event, but this year due to the pandemic they will be held virtually on Oct. 23, 2020.
Gurnett’s novel is available through her website authorlorigurnette.com or Amazon.