Last spring, an Albert Lea woman started an endeavor that she hopes can benefit others.

A writer in high school, Mary Graham, 52, is creating word search books with her brother, Mark Schumacher and his wife, Maria.

But they aren’t just any word find books.

Instead of creating traditional word searches with lists of words to find, they decided to put out puzzles with accompanying short stories instead. Different words throughout the stories are bolded, and the reader searches for those words in the puzzle.

Graham said the idea originated when Mark and Maria traveled from Colorado Springs, Colo., last spring to spend a week in Rochester while their father was hospitalized.

Mark asked her if she wanted to write for him after researching the idea.

“When I started writing, things just flowed,” Graham said.

Suffering from an illness of her own — which includes fatigue and neuropathy — she said the books have given her a new passion.

They seem to be almost therapeutic.

“I constantly struggle with the effects of my illness in 2010,” Graham said. “Maybe my journey now is to help people see small moments as great events and experience gratitude. Or if one of my funnier stories makes them smile, it can improve their well-being.”

She said the puzzles themselves help people keep their minds sharp.

Writing the stories to go with the puzzles has given her something to look forward to and a sense of accomplishment.

“It feels awesome, just incredible,” Graham said. “I pretty much thought I was living for my kids at this point and nothing else.”

When she writes her stories, under the pen name of Mary Bell, she said she sits down with a pen and a notebook, a dictionary, a thesaurus and lists of what she describes as “cool words” that she has found.

Some of the stories are about experiences from her childhood, while some are about her experiences as an adult. There are others that are true but are slightly embellished. She also writes from different viewpoints other than her own.

“A little inspiration goes a long way,” she said.

She noted she writes better in the evening when she is fatigued — she is actually more creative then. While she often writes at home, last summer she also wrote at her 9-year-old son’s baseball practices.

Once people read the short story with each word search, they can begin looking for the words in the puzzle that are bolded in the stories.

Graham and her brother and sister-in-law’s books are all under the trademark of Circle-It. While her books include short stories and word searches, their books are filled with facts and word searches.

They have completed “Cat Facts” and “Italian Coffee Facts” and have other books in the works about dog facts and fitness facts.

Graham said her third book, “Anecdotes,” is due out early summer, and she hopes to have a fourth one by August. They hope to have 10 combined under the trademark by that time.

Graham said her books feature 75 puzzles, and the fact word searches have 150.

All of the books can be found on Amazon under LowryGlobalMedia LLC or at Addie’s Floral in downtown Albert Lea. Graham’s books cost $11.95 each, and the fact books cost $15.95.

“I believe in downtown and am so excited to have my books there,” she said.

She said she is thankful for the support she has received from the members of United Methodist Church.

She has eight children and works a few hours a week at St. John’s Lutheran Community in the dietary department.