Holz girl writes book about Merlin: ; Student will sign copies at book fair

Haley Lambert's interests run the gamut of a lot of 11-year-oldgirls: she takes dance classes, plays spring soccer and likes tohang out with her friends and spend time instant-messaging them onthe computer.

She loves her pets and she loves to read.

Her love of reading inspired the Holz Elementary School fifth-grader to start jotting down a little story in the third grade thatgrew into a 4,000-word chapter book that ended up winning a writer'scompetition and now is a bona fide published and illustrated bookHaley will debut at the West Virginia Book Festival this weekend.

"I love books," said Haley, whose tastes are wide ranging. Sheadmits she didn't quite make it through Jane Austen's "Pride andPrejudice," and put it aside for a far more interesting story called"Miss Popularity."

Her mother, Laura Lambert, says Haley has loved books since shewas a toddler and weekly trips to Books-a-Million became a traditionwith her father, David.

When Haley showed interest in writing, Laura encouraged her.

So did third-grade teacher Jean Crum, who also suggested Haleytry to illustrate her story.

The result is "Merlin's Secret," a story about a girl namedAshley who is assigned to write an English paper on King Arthur.Ashley struggles with English class and frets about the assignment.In reading a tale about King Arthur, she accidentally conjures upMerlin the magician, whose appearance in her modern world causes afew adventures.

Once Haley started on the tale, she envisioned a book with 15chapters. Though she had no set deadline, as she was writing thebook for pleasure, the task soon seemed too daunting.

"She set her sights high. I said, 'Just write the story,'" Laurasaid.

Haley ended up with nine chapters and a storyline she wisely leftopen for a sequel if she chooses.

The book may have been just another file in the Lambert familycomputer if Laura hadn't taken the next step - secretly submittingthe story to the 2008 West Virginia Writers Conference's juvenilewriting competition category.

It wasn't until Haley got a letter in the mail this past Maysaying she was one of the winners that she found out what her momhad done. And it wasn't until they attended the banquet that theylearned Haley had won first place out of 45 entries in her agedivision.

"I was sitting there as they called the other winners," Haleyrecalled. Third place, second place and finally her.

After that, Laura was determined to make good on a promise toHaley that she'd find a way to publish the book.

She did some research and started sending query letters, finallymeeting Patsy Pittman of Terra Alta's Headline Books Inc., whoagreed to look at Haley's book.

Haley recalls she and her 8-year-old brother, Nathan, were at thepool this summer when her mother came in with a smile on her face.She told her Headline Books agreed to publish the story.

"I was very, very close to screaming," Haley said. "I was soexcited."

When the discussion of an illustrator came up, Haley decided shewanted to do it herself. Now she had a deadline - to both come upwith a series of drawings, and to work with editors on refining herstory for publication.

It made for a stressful summer.

"I had to do the last three illustrations in one day," she said.Brother Nathan and her grandmother, Louise Sheets, helped with acouple of the illustrations and are credited in the book.

Meantime, editors Becky Calwell, Leska Foster and Patsy Pittmanmade suggestions for Haley to revise her story and make it better.

"It was hard to find the time to sit down and do that because itwas summer," she said. "Sometimes I felt during the editing part, 'Ican't take this anymore.' But I didn't quit."

What kept her going, Haley said, was the thought that she couldwalk into her beloved Books-a-Million and see her book on display -certainly a possibility someday.

For now, Haley is preparing to hawk her book - 1,500 copies wereprinted in its first run - at the book festival. Headline Books willmarket it to local and regional bookstores and help introduce it onthe school level.

If she makes a little money, it will go in the fund she'sbuilding for her own laptop computer.

And though other tasks of a fifth-grader keep her plenty busy,Haley's already mulling an idea for another book - a series,actually.

"I have an idea for a series about war girls. They go back intime to wars and help change things that happened during them," shesaid. "I would start with wars I know more about - the RevolutionaryWar, the Civil War and the Alamo."

Haley will debut and sign copies of her book during the WestVirginia Book Festival, scheduled for Oct. 11 and 12 at theCharleston Civic Center.

For a schedule, visit www.wvhumanities.org/bookfest.

Contact writer Monica Orosz at monica@dailymail.com or 348-4830.