"Dear Auntee, I have two stories. Can you correct the spelling and also type it out on the computer. Add a picture on the cover, then can we try to get it published! Love your nephew.
P.S. When you finish, please send it back with copies. Thanks!"
Delighted, I then pulled out the two stories that were hand written on lined paper. One had eleven chapters. He even gave himself a pen name. I was impressed. This is cause for celebration. I got on the phone and called him right away.
What just happened here, I said to myself. My nephew was never a real fan of books or reading, I remembered. Something apparently clicked for him one day. When questioned he said that when he reached 9 years old, things changed for him. "I finally found some books I liked," he said. "I really got excited," he added. And those books were mysteries, thrillers and comedies, he told me.
My sister says that now, he sits in his room with the door closed and writes and writes, just like a real writer. He told me he was encouraged by his Dad who writes children's stories.
I am so proud of him because it takes discipline to write and a real commitment. There is so much competition for kid's time and attention, especially with all the latest computer games out on the market.
I'm still typing up the stories he sent me the other day. Every few days he calls and asks me if I'm finished. He just text messaged me a moment ago and wrote, "Auntee, are you done yet? Also I need some tips on how to publish." he added. Boy, I had better hurry up and finish the ones he sent. My sister called and said he just finished four more.
Posted in April, 2008
