Syracuse native Sarah Wright is shown with her newly published novel “Heritage Lost.” It is available online from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. (Photo by Martha Stoelting)

SYRACUSE — When Sarah Wright was a little girl, her mom took her to a Young Authors program sponsored by Syracuse Elementary School where her mother, Sharon Wright, taught second grade. This sparked an interest in writing as a career, a goal Sarah Wright has achieved.

Her father, Jay Wright, wrote westerns when she was growing up, and older brother, Tim, inspired her interest in science fiction. With all these influences, she, as S.M. Wright, is the author of the recently published novel, “Heritage Lost,” and she makes a living as an editor of two magazines, copy editor and staff writer at The Papers Inc., Milford.

The magazines she edits are Municipal and Michiana House and Home. She copy edits and writes for many of the company’s more than 20 publications. “I am so lucky to be able to write for a living. Writing fiction is the cherry on top. I can use my training in technical writing and work on fun features,” she noted.

Hired in 2011, this profession has allowed her to purchase her own home in Syracuse. As a student, Wright took her career path seriously. After graduating from Fairfield High School in 2005, she went to Purdue University, West Lafayette, where she earned her degree in professional writing with minors in history and German.

“Heritage Lost” was started when she was at Purdue. It is the first of a planned series in the sci-fi fantasy genre.

To whet readers’ interest, here is the back blurb from the book. “At 34, Captain Katya Cassius knew she faced the twilight of her military career as a Magistrate officer onboard The Maelstrom. She just hadn’t imagined she’d be jettisoning it into space. But no good deed ever goes unpunished …

“One simple rescue mission lands Katya and her two-person crew in the midst of a cover-up with the discovery of the Magistrate warship Aletheia’s slaughtered crew. Among the wreckage, they discover one survivor, an Oneiroi toddler. Despite the species’ reputation as the Magistrate’s mind-destroying enforcers, Katya rescues him. This act of mercy only ends with her own comrades in arms turning their weapons on her ship.

“Caught between former comrades in arms and a terrorist organization, the lurking danger buried in the boy’s genetic code might prove deadlier than both combined. An adopted child herself, Katya refuses to abandon or airlock the toddler, even as he reshapes her mind and uncovers her forgotten childhood.” The novel can be purchased online from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Wright is at work on other books as well. One is a historical fiction novel, another is a series of short stories and the continuation of the “Heritage Lost” series.

She urges inspiring writers to follow a course of action by researching a subject, joining a writing community, listening to podcasts on writing and viewing YouTube. She particularly touted Facebook’s “10 Minute Novelists” and the local writers’ group at Syracuse Public Library.

A busy and prolific person, Wright has been a Big Sister at Milford Elementary School and enjoys geocaching and knitting. She has four cats and recently lost her corgi, Gracie. She is the embodiment of a young person going for their dreams.