Over the summer, senior Ashley Montague wrote and self-published her first book in a fictional series, The Mystic Forest: The Song of the Storybird, which is a work of fantasy that revolves around a kingdom of birds. The book follows the story of Princess Lenea and her conflict of choosing what to put first in her life: love or her kingdom.
Montague started writing in third grade.
“I remember my teacher saw that I got the work done so fast, so she just gave me a journal and said that I could write whatever I wanted,” said Montague.
She gets her inspiration to write from reading other works of fiction; her process of writing begins with getting ideas from reading, seeing how she could make these ideas better, and finally, incorporating these new ideas into her writing.
Montague said she preferred to write about animals rather than humans.
“I’ve tried, but it’s difficult with humans. With animals… they’re more set with their emotions, but with humans… they’re so random,” Montague said.
The phrase “Practice makes perfect” not only pertains to athletes and musicians—it pertains to authors, too. Montague dedicates one to two hours a day for writing.
“Just at school is where I write. I get my work done, then pull out a journal and start writing. Sometimes, on B-Day lunches, I just hang out in the choir room, and I’ll eat lunch and start writing,” Montague said.
Montague started writing The Mystic Forest series in eighth grade, and she finished it two years later, in tenth grade. She has already finished writing the other two books in the series, and is working on typing them up, editing them, and eventually publishing them.
For those who are curious about her book, Librarian JoAnn Olsson decided she wanted the book in the school library. The Mystic Forest: The Song of the Storybird is also available on Amazon.com and Ebooks.