WARNER ROBINS -- Behind a table scattered with locally found arrowheads and a pile of books, April Gardner sat at Gottwals Books Saturday smiling from ear to ear. The arrowheads were on loan from a friend, and the pile of books were hers, a stack of her just-released first novel, “Wounded Spirits.”

“It’s a Christian historical romance,” she said. “It’s the first to be published in a series I’m calling the Creek Country Saga. I’m working on the second now, called ‘Warring Spirits.’ It’s not contracted yet, but hopefully it and a third book will be picked up.”

Gardner, a military wife and home-schooling mother of two who lives in Bonaire, said she finds it remarkable she’s living in Middle Georgia as her book is being released.

“I was born a military brat traveling all over, and went from that to being a missionary kid living in Spain,” she said. “I’ve lived 22 of my 32 years overseas, and here my husband and I get transferred to Robins Air Force Base, right in the heart of ancient Creek country, as my book about the Creek Nation is published.”

Gardner claims a measure of Creek ancestry and said the book came about after years of imagining the lives of the Creeks as a girl and then doing research as she got older. Her research led to interest in Zachariah McGirth and his family. The McGirths were involved in the Fort Mims massacre in Alabama in 1813, in which half of the more than 500 whites, Indians, soldiers and slaves present were killed by a faction of warring Creeks.

Based on facts around the massacre and the split up of the McGirths, Gardner said her book then launches into a more fictional account of a romance between McGirth’s daughter, Adela, and one of the assaulting Creek warriors.

“Forbidden love during the Creek war,” she said.

“I definitely started out more on the historical side and less on the romantic,” Gardner said. “However, my publisher wanted re-writes that focused more on the romantic. It’s much more marketable.”

And how does the writing life fit in with that of a busy, home-schooling mother of two?

“We’re managing,” she said. “I say I work eight hours a day either writing or marketing, and I have to be focused without distraction during that time. It’s often early morning or late at night, but I catch it when I can. Family comes first; we just have to work it all out.”

Gardner, who has no immediate family in Middle Georgia, said she gets enormous help from her church family here and considers the timing of the book’s release securely in God’s hands.

“I started the book in 2005 and actually sold my first book a lot faster than most do,” she said. “I got a lot of help from popular author Suzanne Woods Fisher. Then in 2008, when the book sold, I turned the offer down, twice. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and could hardly continue with home schooling or even brush my teeth a lot of days. I didn’t think I’d be physically capable to take on being a published author, too.”

Gardner said she finally decided to go on with the sale, and after two years she now finds herself taking medications that work, felling well, and enjoying living in Creek country.

“That’s why I feel it’s God’s hand, it never would have worked otherwise,” she said.

Abbey Gottwals of Gottwals Books is a fan. She said she was excited to help Gardner and host the launch of “Wounded Spirits.”

“We’ve had a number of local authors do book signings here, but this is the first launch we’ve ever been able to do,” Gottwals said. “It’s really great, and I love the book. We sold out of our first order today and are going to have to restock.”

After the launch, Gardner said it’s back to taking care of the family and squeezing in her writing. In addition, she said she has launched her own website at www.aprilgardner.com and has begun another venture called Clash of the Titles at www.clashofthetitles.com.

“It’s a website where two authors compete by presenting sections from their books, and then readers judge between them,” she said.

“As they compete, the authors are anonymous. After the voting we reveal the writers and do features on them. People enjoy having a voice regarding what’s being published and how they feel about authors. They seem to be enjoying the site a lot.”

Gardner’s book is available at Gottwals and at online bookstores. She said she hopes they will soon be available at other local venues as well.