Courtesy Photo Author Kaytlin Huizinga will sign copies of her children’s book on Wednesday at Parallel 45 Books and Gifts in downtown Alpena.

ALPENA — Kaytlin Huizinga is excited to bring her first published book back to Northeast Michigan, a place where she has fond childhood memories.

The children’s author will be signing copies of her book, “Sir Parker and the Quest for the Dreadful Dragon,” from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Parallel 45 Books and Gifts on North 2nd Avenue in downtown Alpena.

“The book is a picture book for children,” Huizinga said. “The target audience is kids ages 3 through 8, but I’ve had kids outside of that age range who’ve enjoyed it.”

The main character is named after her firstborn son who is now 3 years old.

“The book is about a young boy, about 7 or 8 years old, he’s a knight, and he’s sent out on a quest by his father, the king,” she explained. “To hunt down a dragon who has been causing damage and frightening villagers in the kingdom. And so, he takes his two best friends, and they go off in search of this dragon, but when they finally arrive and find it, they realize there’s more than one side to every story, and they have to make a choice ­­– do they mete out justice, as they were told to do, or do they show mercy and compassion?”

There’s definitely a lesson in there.

“It’s a quest adventure story for kids, but also teaches some important lessons, too,” she said.

The book came out on Oct. 7. She started writing it about two years ago when her son, Parker, was 1.

“The character and his personality is based a lot off of my son,” she said. “Originally, I wrote the book for him. He loves books, and I love fantasy fiction, and this was a way of introducing that genre to a young child in a way that wasn’t frightening or inappropriate.”

Huizinga and her family ­– her husband, Tim, and boys, Parker, 3, and Hunter, 1 — live in Naperville, Illinois, but her parents own a cabin in Glennie where they will all meet for the upcoming holiday. Huizinga, whose maiden name is Goodwin, was born in Northeast Michigan and lived here until she was about 10.

“I was out in the Harrisville/Lincoln area,” she said.

She has been writing since she was 13 years old.

“When I was 13, I watched and then read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ for the first time,” Huizinga recalled. “I enjoyed ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and those books as well, but that book really, kind of, spurred me on to start enjoying writing more, so I was, kind of, torn in high school about whether I wanted to go to school for British lit or science, and ended up going the science route.”

She was glad she did that, because she chose her college based on their science program, and that’s where she met her husband.

Huizinga has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Cedarville University in Ohio. She currently stays at home raising her young sons and working on her writing. She plans to continue the Sir Parker saga with more tales to come.

“It has been a really cool journey,” she added.

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5691.