Joy Spraycar hasn’t forgotten her roots. Joy got her start writing in the 7th grade. Joy gives back, collaborates with TH Bell Junior High School, helping aspiring young authors publish their first book: “Betrayed,” which is for sale on Amazon.com.
The T.H. Bell Young Authors Sarandon Doutre, Taryn Rasmussen, Aspen Burnett, Chase Hulet, Asilyn Seiber and Maddie Peer pose with Joy Spraycar and the novella, “Betrayed,” she helped them write. The Young Authors Club worked with Spraycar for a year to write the book.
Supplied photo/Stephanie Chambers
By Stephanie Chambers, Standard-Examiner Correspondent
The young authors club at T.H. Bell Junior High has gone way beyond “It was a dark and stormy night.”
This year, members of the club have written and published a book with local author Joy Spraycar that showcases their writing journey over the past year.
“I was excited to write a book,” said Sarandon Doutre, one of the young authors who worked on the project. “When I was little, I wanted to make a mark on the world somehow, and this is some way to be remembered.”
The 135-page novella, “Betrayed,” is a science-fiction love story that combines action and mystery as the main characters, Valcor and Loreen, try to fulfill their opposing missions. Valcor is on a mission to take Earth girls back to his planet and set himself up to become the next president of Dactilt. Loreen has been banished to Earth, waiting to redeem herself.
The club started out with 35 interested students, but as they went through the difficult work of learning how to write a book chapter by chapter, just six students remained: Aspen Burnett, Chase Hulet, Maddie Peer, Sarandon Doutre, Taryn Rasmussen and Asilyn Seiber.
“I loved learning how to write on different topics,” Rasmussen said. “I only knew how to write on three things, and I had to become really creative.”
“I liked learning writing skills, “ said Doutre. “I learned about showing, not telling. Like if someone is shy, instead of saying that, describing their face and how they felt.”
“I like writing and it has been fun getting to know people,” Seiber said of why she got involved.
The director and teacher over the club, Jana Patchett, said the students started writing with Spraycar last January. Patchett said she has seen the students grow and learn through the writing process.
“Watching the kids struggle with writing, but getting excited about this and seeing their progress has been my favorite part of the project,” said Patchett. “I can hear their different voices just enough as I read it.”
Spraycar said each author brought his or her own strengths to the story. “Chase wrote all the garbage scenes, Taryn was good at the magical parts, and Maddie had good sass. The spider part is courtesy of Sarandon.”
Spraycar and Patchett met at Brigham City’s Peach Days, and Patchett asked Spraycar to speak to her classes about being an author.
“In seventh grade, I had a great English teacher that sent in one of my short stories to the National Scholastic magazine, and it was published. It gave me my first taste of published writing and I wanted to do that with some kids,” said Spraycar.
She and Patchett met with the kids weekly, even through the summer, and taught them the writing process.
“In the beginning, I said to them, ‘These are the things we need to have in the book.’ They decided the plot and the twists and then we did the same thing in chapters,” Spraycar said.
Each author chose parts to write and turned them in on deadline. Spraycar then wrote the transitions and put it all together.
The authors hope to explore their characters more through a series. Spraycar said the original idea for the book was inspired by Katy Perry’s song “E.T.”
“We were discussing the plot and the kids came up with so much backstory, we decided to write a series,” Spraycar said.
The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com. The young authors and Spraycar will also be at Brigham City’s Peach Days in September.
If Valcor Sentorum can bring back more girls than his predecessor, General Labaam, he’ll have set himself up to become the next President of Dactilt. That’ll put an end to those meddling Ventician women for good! Of course, only if no one finds out where’s he’s been or what he’s found. But once he lands on Earth, someone changes all his aspirations. Loreen Baccarin would give anything to go back and undo the last year and a half. Never trust a man, especially not a Dactiltian! Now she’s been banished from Venticia until she can redeem herself, spending the last eight months stuck on Earth and waiting for a Dactiltian ship to land. When one does, all the hatred she’d been holding inside boils to the surface, and she’s determined to unleash it on the poor sap who’s arrived outside of town. But when she reaches the ship, she comes face to face with the person she thought she’d ever see again… Her husband!