By Amanda Meloy
Lindbergh Elementary School
Congratulations to Lindbergh Elementary School fifth graders, Ada Meyer and Cynthia Propsom. They published their first book, “Once Upon a Time is Overrated.” It is on sale at Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback.
Are you looking for fantasy, humor and just a good story? Look no further. Amazon describes it as a story that “follow[s] the adventures of 10-year-old Reah to Once Upon a Time land. A humorous book with twists and turns throughout its whole.”
How do fifth graders become published authors? Ada and Cynthia put in a lot of hard work. They collaborated together, read other authors, wrote and revised. Writing takes a lot of time. They also had a fellow writer, Jon Etter, author of the Dreadful Fairy Books, giving them meaningful feedback.
During the 2018-19 school year, Jon Etter visited Lindbergh and spoke to fourth and fifth graders about his books, his life and being an author. Ada and Cynthia had a story idea and contacted Etter for guidance. He was delighted to assist young writers. He has also reviewed their book on Amazon and wrote about them on his own website (jonetter.com).
Ada and Cynthia are now working on their second book. They have recorded “Once Upon a Time is Overrated” so all can have access to it. Their recordings are at the Lindbergh Library portal under madison.campusguides.com/lindberghlmc/Lindberghtalents. You can also access it at the Lindbergh Elementary School Library. If you are lucky and ask nicely, I am sure they will sign a copy.
Ada and Cynthia had this to say about their experience:
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
C: I wasn’t super into writing until Ada started sharing her stories with me and that’s when I realized that I wanted to be a writer. In the beginning they weren’t great but once I started working with Ada, things got progressively better. Our ideas together became Once Upon a Time is Overrated and we both admit if we hadn’t worked together, it wouldn’t be as good.
A: Honestly, I have always adored writing, and if you check out my Google Docs page, you’ll find a whole load of stories I hadn’t finished. It might be hard to believe, but until around January of 2019, Once Upon A Time Is Overrated was one of them. That’s when I started getting serious about my writing.
How long does it take you to write a book?
C: This specific book took us one and a half years to write.
A: Yeah, we wrote it in about a year and a half. We had to do lots of revisions, editing and formatting.
What was your favorite part about writing a book?
C: Getting to be creative, getting feedback, and sharing it with other people to enjoy. The best part I think is when you have people telling you either how good or bad it was. Even if it is negative, we’ll just use those corrections for next time.
A: The feedback is huge, because you think, “Man. This used to be a little project, something for fun, but now it’s gotten to the point where I’m getting good feedback from perfect strangers.” It’s an amazing feeling.
What was a challenge for you writing a book?
C: Getting the story going in some parts and when our whole story got deleted.
A: Editing can be really tough, and it’s super hard. When our book got deleted last year, we wanted to give up. We didn’t, and it’s a good thing because if we had I wouldn’t be here now, writing this down.
What advice would you give others who want to write and publish a book?
C: Find a friend who will write it with you and keep going. That’s the main thing; you have to keep at it and really want to do it.
A: Yeah, having a friend is essential, especially if you’re a kid. I don’t want to sound adultish and all, but friendship really is the key to success. Also, eat burritos.