Teen writer enjoys novel experience

Alexa Schnee can’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing.

She can barely remember her first short story; she thinks it had something to do with a caterpillar.

The details of the story have been lost over time — which is understandable, considering Schnee was about 5 when she wrote it.

“I’ve been writing since I could pick up a pen,” she said in a recent interview.

Schnee said she began writing seriously when she was about 13, and now, five years later, she is awaiting the release of her first novel, “Shakespeare’s Lady,” which is due out in fall 2011.

She also was the winner of this year’s Authors of the Flathead high school writing contest.

Her short story, “Coffee Date,” was published in the most recent edition of the Whitefish Review.

The writing bug first bit Schnee when she joined a writing club led by Tricia Goyer, a local writer who recently moved to Arkansas. Goyer started the monthly club for home-schooled students.

Schnee said that as someone who always had enjoyed writing, she thought the club would be fun.

“I’m always up for trying new things,” she said.

Goyer said Schnee was one of the few students in the club who seemed dedicated to writing.

“She was one of the ones that was there all the time,” Goyer said in a recent phone interview. “I could tell she was very serious about it. I would ask, ‘Who’s been writing this month?’ and she would always raise her hand.”

Goyer said Schnee improved as the months went on, and by the time she had been in the club about two years, she confided in her teacher that she was working on a novel.

The book happened almost by accident, Schnee said.

She was working on a report for school about William Shakespeare and had started researching the mysterious “Dark Lady” to whom he addressed many of his sonnets. Schnee was fascinated by the unnamed woman who inspired the famous playwright and by the Elizabethan period in general.

“I don’t know what the point [of the research] was, but it turned into a story,” Schnee said.

The book took about six months to write, she added. “It pretty much consumed my life at that time.”

She would go to school, do her homework and then work on her book until dinnertime. After dinner it was back to writing, sometimes late into the night.

“I would write when my parents didn’t know it,” Schnee confessed. “I couldn’t stop. It was kind of addicting.”

When the book was finished, Goyer suggested Schnee attend the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference near Santa Cruz, Calif., to get more training.

“I said, ‘If you’re serious about this writing thing, you should go to this conference,’” Goyer said.

Schnee agreed immediately. The conference proved to be valuable for more than the experience and expertise she gathered; while there, Schnee was named the Mount Hermon Most Promising Writer.

Then 17, she was the youngest person ever to win the award.

“It was amazing,” Goyer said proudly. “I think there were about 400 people attending, and she was the best new writer out of all the attendees. There were some people [there] that have been writing for 20 years.”

Schnee also had a chance to network at the conference.

She met Beth Adams of Guideposts Books and Rachel Zurakowski, a literary agent. Both wanted to see a copy of “Shakespeare’s Lady,” so Schnee sent them copies when she got home.

In September 2009, Adams called Schnee at home and told her Guideposts wanted to publish her book.

“It was really hard to keep calm,” Schnee said. “It was kind of overwhelming.”

She did her best to maintain her composure while Adams went over the details. The company would publish 5,000 copies initially and would pay Schnee a considerable advance.

When she hung up, “I think I screamed,” Schnee said. “My mom was there on the phone with me, of course, and my sister was in the house. She heard us scream and was like, ‘What happened?’”

Now Schnee is in the middle of her second round of edits. She has at least one more round of edits to go through before the book will be ready for publication, she said.

“It’s been going really well. I really like where [the book is] going,” she said.

Schnee is also working on writing her second book, “Burning Troy,” which retells Greek myths from the goddess Athena’s point of view. She doesn’t know yet if that book will be published.

That both books are historical fiction surprises Schnee.

“I do love history. I just never thought that I’d be writing historical fiction,” she said.

That she is writing for a living isn’t a surprise, however. It’s what she has always wanted.

“I think in a way it’s kind of a part of me,” she said of writing. “When I do it, I love it. That’s the reason I keep doing it.”

On the Net:

www.alexinksit.wordpress.com

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.