Editor's Note: This column first appeared in the Monday, Jan. 25, 2010, edition of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Be it stated or unstated, just about every writer with a modicum of ambition shares a universal goal.

That goal is to see your name on the New York Times Best-Sellers List, and as of last week, Carrie (Barnard) Jones has to come up with a new goal.

The 1989 West High School graduate debuted on the list last week -- not once, but twice! -- and since I have yet to know that joy, I wondered about her reaction. Did it rank up there with her first kiss? Her wedding day? The birth of her daughter, Em?

I came away with the sense that it's like all of those events rolled into one.

"I hyperventilated," Carrie laughed. "A lot. Seriously, I sort of just kept inhaling and pacing back and forth while the publicity director, the editor and the head of my publishing company called me. They kept laughing and screaming and I kept sort of inhaling. It was pretty embarrassing."

For the record, Carrie's novels are described as "supernatural-teen-thrillers," so her books fall under the heading of "Children's Books" -- sub-heading: "Chapter Books" -- on the Times Best Sellers List.

The list is further broken down with categories for paperback and hardbound books, and while one of Carrie's books -- "Need" -- was making its debut on the paperback list at No. 10, her newest novel -- "Captivate" -- came in at No. 7 on the hardbound list.

It's the kind of recognition Carrie could only dream of as she made her way from West High to Bates College to the Vermont College of Fine Arts, with steady work as a reporter and editor of the weekly newspaper in Ellsworth, Maine -- her current home -- sandwiched in there as well.

"It's all Joe Sullivan's fault, really," she said, citing the long-time Union Leader sports columnist who was also the cornerstone of the English department at West High for more than 30 years.

"Every paper I turned in, he would write, 'You are a writer!' He'd do it in red pen. He used exclamation points. Eventually, by the end of the semester I got his point.

"Honestly, I can't even begin to explain how Mr. Sullivan's faith in me changed my life," she added, and if that sounds familiar, it's because it's a sentiment I have personally echoed time and again.

"I was always shy, always quiet; a smart-enough kid but not the kind who raised their hands and shouted out answers," Carrie said. "Mr. Sullivan didn't need me to shout out answers. He just needed me to write. And his belief? His belief still holds me up when I'm having those neurotic writer days when I think that nothing is good enough."

Modesty aside, Carrie's writing has always been good enough, and if you think writers aren't competitive . . . "In fifth grade, we had author-of-the-month contests," she explained, harkening to her elementary school days at Bedford Memorial School. "Every month, we'd all read stories to the class. The class picked an author of the month, but the teacher picked THE author of the month.

"After the first month, I realized that the teacher would always pick Kathy Albertson and I had no hope there," she added. "But I also realized that boys liked stories with wars and aliens and the girls seemed to like stories about puppies and love. So, for the rest of the year I wrote a story about a girl who joined the army, and fell in love with an alien named Abba, who looked like a puppy while fighting off other aliens that looked like gremlins. I won every month. I had no shame."

She does have imagination, however, and it's evident on the pages of the novels that now adorn the Times Best Sellers List.

"They're about a girl, Zara, who is devastated by her stepfather's death and moves to Maine to live with his mother," Carrie said. "While in Maine she finds out that she's being stalked by a pixie king. The pixies are NOT like Tinkerbell. They are evil. She eventually has to save the town, her family, and her friends. To do this she has to face her very real fears."

If you are at all familiar with the hubbub surrounding the "Twilight" teen novels (and films) from Stephanie Meyer, you know that Carrie's chosen genre -- supernatural-teen-thrillers -- is the hottest one around.

Here's hoping she's around the top of the New York Times Best Sellers List for a long time to come.

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You won't find Lucille Lagasse's new book on the New York Times Best Sellers List, but that's fine by her.

The 87-year-old Goffstown resident wrote her book for friends and family, and when it comes to serving that group, the remarkable Lucille is just "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly." That's the title of her book -- the subtitle is "From My Kitchen Lab: True Tales of Cures Without Drugs" -- in which she espouses the virtues of clean living and wholesome food with the zeal of a faith healer.

In fact, Lucille is a healer, and the legions of those she has served provide the anecdotal backbone of her book.

And you could write a book about Lucille.

You could write about her days as a World War II aviation mechanic at Grenier Field, which dovetailed with her days as a singer with the USO, or her work as one of the founders of the American-Canadian Genealogical Society or the time she ran for Congress, which is not to overlook her stint as the chairman of Ronald Reagan's Presidential campaign in Manchester, but rather than write about herself, Lucille chose to write about her holistic approach to healing.

Toward that end, her book is full of recipes and health hints -- an apple to head off heartburn? -- and not surprisingly, her first press run is running low, so if you're looking for a copy, you'd best act soon.

To contact Lucille, call 497-3464. I'll bet she answers on the first ring.

John Clayton is the author of several books on Manchester and New Hampshire, including his newest title, "Remembering Manchester." His e-mail is jclayton@unionleader.com.