A long-held dream is coming true for a Kalispell writer.

Angela Townsend has been writing ever since she was a little girl. Her devotion to the craft has paid off; her novel “Amarok” will be on bookshelves in November.

The book tells the story of a girl transplanted from sunny California to harsh, isolated Alaska with her mother and stepfather. When she runs away, she is kidnapped by a man with a wolf that is more than it seems.

“Amarok” has a strong paranormal element with just a hint of romance, Townsend said.

“I’m definitely not a romance writer,” she said. “I like action and the supernatural.”

IT TOOK TOWNSEND six months to write the story and longer to sell it. A grin spread across her face when she remembered the day she found out Spencer Hill Press wanted to publish it.

“Next to the birth of my children, the happiest moment of my life was when I was published,” she said.

Townsend got the good news Nov. 20, 2011. She had gotten home late from her job as a paralegal and decided to take a few minutes to check her email.

“I had to sit down for a few minutes to absorb, ‘Is this really real?’” she said.

Once she had recovered, she had to share the news with her boss, Kalispell attorney Dale McGarvey.

“I remember picking up the phone and saying, ‘Guess what, counselor? I’m getting published,’” Townsend said.

She has since given McGarvey a T-shirt bearing a picture of the book’s cover. He also has a copy of the manuscript, which he hasn’t quite had time to finish.

“I’ve read enough of it to get caught up in it. That’s what I wanted to feel, what I wanted to test, [the feeling of] hating to put it down,” he said.

TOWNSEND HAS been writing for almost as long as she can remember. She grew up in Bigfork and graduated from Bigfork High School. She then attended Flathead Valley Community College and the University of Montana.

She had a number of writing gigs over the years, including writing town histories of settlements in the Missoula area.

Townsend was particularly interested in Ovando, where her ancestors, the Sperrys — including Lyman B. Sperry for whom Sperry chalet, trail and glacier in Glacier National Park are named — settled. It is those relatives whom Townsend credits with her passion for words.

“My great-great-grandfather was a poet,” she said. “As well, a lot of the Sperrys were poets and writers. That’s where a lot of my creativity comes from.”

In addition to writing, Townsend taught genealogy classes. Her longest job, as an office manager for her father’s business, lasted 18 years, until Ed Townsend sold the business to Dennis Washington. She was at a loss when the job she loved was no longer there.

“When my father retired, it was like a death,” she said. “I loved my job. I loved the people and the social interaction.”

AROUND THE SAME time, in 1998, Townsend’s youngest son, Levi, then just 18 months old, became critically ill with a rare, blinding form of eye cancer. The rare disease sent the family to Philadelphia, where Townsend discovered the nation’s original Ronald McDonald House.

Townsend wants to give proceeds from “Amarok” to Ronald McDonald House to thank the organization for its support. In addition to helping her through her son’s illness, the Philadelphia chapter is building a Web page to promote her book.

Townsend said she also is thankful for McGarvey, for whom she has worked for about a year. McGarvey initially hired Townsend to help him write a book about his more than 60 years as an attorney.

MCGARVEY SAID he was impressed by the fact that Townsend had an agent —“You’ve got to have a real talent to get that” — and by her skills as an Internet researcher. Townsend was grateful for a job that provided steady income so she could continue writing.

But it was encouragement from people such as McGarvey and her parents, Ed and Jodi, that Townsend finds most helpful. She dedicated the book to Missoula lawyer Milton Datsopoulos, who has been one of her biggest cheerleaders.

“His words made me believe I could do it,” Townsend said. “He said, ‘If anybody can write a book and be successful, you can do it, because I believe in you.’ That was an important thing to me.”

While “Amarok” won’t come out until November, Townsend already is enjoying some success from the book. Barnes & Noble has preordered several hundred copies for distributorship, she said, and two studios may be interested in turning the story into a movie.

But Townsend isn’t resting on her laurels. She is a prolific writer, and there are more stories waiting to be put on paper. She plans to keep writing and pursuing publication, and she urges other writers to do the same.

“My advice to them is just to keep going. Don’t give up,” she said. “It’s that tenacity that will make you successful in writing.”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.