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Local
Author's Novel setting takes readers down a familiar path
The Glendale Star located in Glendale Arizona, 6/5/03 by
Carolyn Dryer, Editor
Readers
of Tony Ardito's novel "Sam's Ghost" may find themselves
doing a little snooping on their own. In his opening paragraphs,
Ardito places his main character, Nick Ellis, in the heart
of a campus - Condor University - in a mid-sized community
similar to Glendale.
"Sam's
Ghost" which was released May 31, is intended to be the
first in a series of Nick Ellis mysteries. Ardito researched
the setting and wrote his novel while serving as a night security
guard at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International
Management.
"This
way, I got to walk around at night while I was writing my
book," Ardito said. "I'm not a campus-police type,
but it was a lot of fun.
Condor
University is the site of the former Condor Airfield, a training
ground for pilots during World War II. Like Thunderbird, Condor
is a university for post-graduate students studying international
business management.
"Sam's
Ghost" begins with a fire in the campus cafeteria kitchen.
Ellis becomes a hero when he saves several firemen and his
partner, Zeke Roberts, from being crushed by a large metal
awning that eventually caved in at the entrance to the cafeteria.
After
the fire is doused, Ellis and one of the firemen survey the
damage and they notice mysterious letters written on the wall
of the cafeteria. The letters haunt Ellis, and the rest of
the novel deals with their meaning, his encounters with Sam's
ghost and his search for clues to a 60-year-old murder. Ellis
is compelled to help the ghost of the campus past, solve a
murder, and clear the ghost's name.
One local
reviewer gave the book five stars. In her review, Sharon Anderson
wrote, "You can't help but root for the ghost and get
behind Nick too."
Celia
from British Columbia wrote, "A long while after I put
it down, I was still pondering on how one event, one choice,
one decision - even one nuance of thought - can change a lifetime.
It is
Ardito's first fictional publication. He has been writing
a long time, he said, professionally since 1989. Before that
, Ardito had written for college papers. In 1989, he started
his literary career by writing nominations for sites to be
included in the National Register of Historic Places. Ardito
said he worked as a historic preservationist, and he would
write architectural descriptions of buildings. He also had
articles published about archeology.
Once his
son, 8-year-old Eric, was born, Ardito made the transition
to technology. He learned how to paginate a newsletter, sold
ads, designed the cover, wrote articles, edited others, and
distributed to stores. He came up with the idea to sell his
articles to other magazines when he and his family moved to
Arizona. Once here, Ardito started the Writers Group and sold
member's articles to outlets across the United States and
foreign countries.
Ardito's
next book finds Nick Ellis back to his investigative reporter/archeology
roots.
"It's
a Mayan mystery," Ardito said.
In the
book, Dec. 2, 2012 is predicted as the end of the world. So,
Ellis is involved in solving the mystery surrounding the date.
"On
the order of Indiana Jones," Ardito said.
As a full-time
writer, Ardito said he does his best work at night, and spends
anywhere from four to five hours, from mid-night to 4 or 5
a.m., on his writing.
In addition
to writing and working at home, Ardito is also a full-time
dad. His son is homeschooled and when Ardito begins his writing
day, Eric goes to his own computer and writes, just like dad.
It may be in the genes. Eric received an Honorable Mention
for his Haiku poem in the Glendale Public Library's poetry
contest. He is also a published author for an online children's
literature Web site, Kidspace.org.
Eric has
been writing for a few months and his favorite genre is "Star
Wars" stories. He likes to write about animals and from
the way he describes their activity, they could almost be
human.
Ardito
was born in New York, but lived in southern Arizona as a child,
from 1957 - 1967. He attended school in the Bowie and Douglas
area through 5th grade. He and his wife, Josie, and their
son, moved to Arizona in 1996.
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