Tour Stop: It's a Little Haywire by Elle Strauss

The Fog Train

IT’S A LITTLE HAYWIRE is a contemporary story with a twist of magic realism. The trains don’t run through Hayward WA, aka Haywire, anymore since the Mill shut down. Nothing much is moving through Haywire anymore, it’s a dying town hit hard by the recession.

Owen True lives on the other side of the metaphorical tracks and hasn’t personally encountered the effects of financial stress until he spends a summer month with his Gramps, where he meets a homeless man for the first time and witnesses the breakdown of his friend’s family.

It’s a Little Haywire is actually a major re-write of a book I wrote years ago when I first decided I’d like to try my hand at writing. It was horribly executed but the core of the idea was still salvageable. It was inspired by an experience I had, I think in a near dream state, where I woke up to the sound of a train whistle, much like I used to as a child in the small town where my grandparents lived. Except we didn’t live near the tracks at the time.

That’s where the idea for the mysterious fog train first materialized. Why would someone hear a train whistle when there wasn’t a train?

The first time Owen True encounters the fog train, he’s pretty shaken up. He sees it several times over the month he’s in Haywire and each time it transforms, until it finally gives him a clue to how he can help the struggling citizens of Haywire.

Download It's A Little Haywire at Amazon FREE today only!

Personal Appearance: ISU February 25th!

5 Quick Things

1. Return to Eden is Coming! - The third book in the Soulkeepers Series is with beta readers.  Once they are done with it and I've made any necessary changes, it's off to my new copyeditor Dani Crabtree. Still on target for an early March release. Tour schedule is in development.


2. Cute New MG Books - If you have a middle grader with an ereader, check out these new MG books by authors I admire! I'm really excited to see more eBook options for this age group.



Gabby is a disgruntled tween angel who has just been assigned to protect her school nemesis and ex-beffie. Problem is her ex-beffie is dating Gabby’s longtime crush. Instead of protecting Angela, Gabby pranks her (since when is sticking toilet paper to her shoe or spinach in her teeth a sin?) Soon, Gabby gets out of control and is put on probation by her SKYAgent, who has anger management issues of his own. Determined to right her wrongs, Gabby steals an ancient artifact that allows her to return to Earth for just one day. Without knowing, she kicks off a series of events and learns what can happen when you hate someone to death. 


Available on amazon and B&N

Owen True is eleven and eleven twelfths and has been “exiled” to the small crazy town of Hayward, WA, aka, Haywire, while his mother is on her honeymoon. All he has to whittle away the time is the company of Gramps, his black lab Daisy, and his Haywire friends, Mason and Mikala Sweet. They don’t look so hot this year, in fact, the whole town has gone to pot since the mill shut down.

Owen has his first encounter with a real life homeless man who ends up needing Owen’s help in more ways than one. But how does a rich city kid help the small town’s suffering citizens?And what is Owen to make of the fog train and its scary, otherworldy occupants that appears out of thin air on the old tracks behind Gramps’ house? Do they have the answer Owen is looking for?

Available on Amazon.


3. I'm not ignoring you- I've been ill but I'm better now.  Sorry if I was not as responsive as usual this last week. Here's my favorite new video of what I SHOULD have been doing instead of being sick.

4. Personal Appearance- I'll be at Illinois State University, February 25th 11:30-5PM  as part of the Author Showcase. I'll be signing paperbacks and answering questions.  If you live in the area, I'd love to meet you.


5. Buyer Beware - With the recent popularity of The Soulkeepers Series, the books have been pirated on a multitude of sites. BEWARE.  Because these sites do NOT have my permission to sell my books, they are not getting the latest file updates from me.  The files may not be current, complete, or free from viruses and I can't guarantee that the seller hasn't modified the book in some way. In other words, you may not be getting the same book! The only retailers authorized to sell my ebooks are Amazon, iBookstore, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Sony, Kobo, and Diesel.