A very young Kale, now an FHSU Honorable studying Paleontology, got a story in his head he couldn't shake. He tells us more about how his book came to be.
The earliest framework for my story came to me at a pretty young age. Unlike many ideas, the concept of time-traveling teenagers simply wouldn’t leave me alone. I recently uncovered a journal from 5th grade with the very earliest notes of a time-travel-based story. The first true draft of A Prehistoric Odyssey: Gone to the Great Dying was written in the spring of 2017 when I was in 7th grade. I often had free time in my health class (thanks, Mr. Butler), and it was there that I began to write my story. As summer approached, I lost access to a reliable computer. Instead, I spent the summer (and subsequent summers) typing away on our home computer, which is so old, it might as well be a fossil (and believe me, I know fossils).
Years passed, and I came back to the story now and then, always changing things, but as I matured, I realized that I might actually have something worth sharing. It was Mrs. DeWeese, my gifted program teacher, who encouraged me to keep working and publish it. One November, I committed to doing National Novel Writing Month and bulked up my story significantly. Never underestimate what you can do by simply writing for an hour each day. The bond I have with my friends informed the characters, and my extensive research into the Permian period fleshed out the setting. By my junior year, I felt ready to share it with some of my friends and fellow book-readers. It was scary sharing my work, but once I did, I couldn't get enough of it. I made it my goal to publish the book before graduating high school, and even though it took well into the summer, I consider the whole process a success.
If you're up got a little dino adventure this summer, this is the book for you! You can keep up with Kale's future work on his website at: kalelink.com
