Desire to write becomes a reality

CUSHING, Okla. (AP) -- Sharon Hudgins always had a desire to write.

So when the opportunity came for her to take a collaborative novel writing class at Moore-Norman Vo-Tech, taught by author Mel Odom, she jumped.

Out of that class came the book "The Yankee Dollar Conspiracy," which was released in August.

"We were all supposed to be thinking about what we could write about," said Hudgins, a Cushing resident. "One of the classmates read an article in a magazine discussing the United States government's new technology for their new money.

"He came up with the idea what if... From there we got our subject matter, developed our characters and started writing."

"The Yankee Dollar Conspiracy," covers treason, trust, money and murder.

The DST building in Washington, D.C., houses the new technology for the government's currency.

A break-in triggers the covert operations between the Yakuza of the Japanese Mafia and the henchmen of Tri-Tech Security.

"The Yankee Dollar Conspiracy," is authored by six people including Ed Beltram, Jerilyn Hughlock, Al Rodgers, Camber Sahlman, Curtis (Smokey) Stover and Hudgins.

The book, though, is penned under the alias Norman Moore.

"It was too complicated to make up a pen name with everyone's initials," she said. "We met at Moore-Norman Vo-Tech, hence the name Norman Moore."

Hudgins credits Odom with making sure the writers stayed on track for their writing project.

"We were guided on the novel by Mel Odom," she said.

"He is an excellent teacher and mentor. There was really no dissension in writing this. Our egos were left at home."

Hudgins said the book took about nine months to finish, but wasn't published for several years.

Eventually, the book was published on the Internet via iUniverse.com and later on Amazon.com.

Hudgins said in doing research for some of the characters of the book, she looked to friends for help.

And in the process, she ended up naming some of the characters based on her friends who included Payne County District Judge Donald Worthington. He is known as Sen. Worthington in the book, Hudgins said.

Hudgins said the response has been good so far.

Hudgins is a real estate agent with her father, Jack, at Hudgins Realty in Cushing.

She says she wants to continue writing and hopefully one day be part of another book project.

"It's something that I always dreamed of doing," Ms. Hudgins said of helping write the book. "I'll keep writing."

"The Yankee Dollar Conspiracy" is available at Hastings and via the Internet at calling 877-823-9235.