It's true, I'm an action junkie. It's what keeps me writing young adult scifi. I know action wrapped in the a story, a fast-paced, character's with attitude and arrogance isn't everyone's cup of tea, but hey - you get that when you are on a Pirate Planet (Merwin) in Bandits, or when you are a shunned, blind, vigilante uncomfortable with people (The Pack), or you find out your parents sent you to a camp where you are a lab rat who's been altered to evolve into alien species and conquer them (Explorer X-Alpha).
You know why I create characters like this? Well, hey, I get those kids. I understand them - sure they have fear, but they do what they gotta do. They are a product of the world they live in. Some kids - at least mine - don't seem to have fear, they hold more hope, and an attitude that they are invincible. Do they have super powers - well yeah they do - naiveté. And you know what else - they make me feel invincible. They remind me not to give up. When I question myself - my writing, my future in writing, they tell me I will do great things. You know what, to me, I have - truly writing has allowed me to do more in my life, to touch more people either bad or good - but to connect with them in ways I never dreamed I would.
Sometimes when you don't know you should be afraid to attain the impossible, you do it anyway - and just sometimes you do it! You do the impossible because NO ONE EVER TOLD you that you couldn't.
So, find your inner hero, and when you hear that voice that says - "You Can't" you answer it and say, "I WILL!"
Aadi, Eirena and Damien in Explorer X-Alpha
Shamira in The Pack
Daniel in Bandits
SPOTLIGHT OF A KID WITHOUT FEAR – SHE’s DONE AWESOME THINGS SO FAR
Maggie Mei Lewis, a now 16 year old girl, wrote her first picture book at the age of 13 years old, found her illustrator on ebay, and asked her mother to start a publishing company to distribute her book and sell it. Huh!? Yep, - there it is again – no fear. No one told her that she couldn’t do this. Besides, she had an awesome mom to support her.
Now, Moonlight Memoirs, is getting awards, and Maggie’s tour schedule is hectic, not to mention her book is selling very well. She recently won the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
So there you go, an example of a teen who has done amazing things. Who had the confidence, to blaze her own path.
Buy her book, Moonlight Memiors, http://www.amazon.com/Maggie-Mei-Lewis/e/B003I3HLH6
Maggie's website: www.moonlightmemoirs.com/
Melody Lamb, Illustrator: www.melodylealamb.com/html/maggie_mei.html
Maggie's story to publication is inspiring. Also, on a different note, I love the complexities of your character, Shamira, and that picture of her is cool!
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how many young writers there are now. And they are taking the publishing world by storm. Good for them.
ReplyDeleteThank you all :-D
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