The photo above shows LeAnn Kubacki (right) with her published book, available on Amazon. She is pictured with her friend Gracie Prill, who listened to LeAnn’s ideas about her debut book.
Many people think about writing a book but never get around to doing it. Laker freshman LeAnn Kubacki isn’t one of those people—she had an idea for a book, she wrote and published it, and now it’s for sale on Amazon! The book is called “Crowned in Illusions,” a fantasy romance about a girl who was tested on by her government and has to run from them to keep her identity a secret.
The idea for the book stemmed from an unlikely source – makeup.
“I’ve always liked special effects makeup, and when I learned how to create fake wounds, I started practicing on myself,” she said.
LeAnn created a makeup look she really liked, and from there, she created an original character.
“A character has to have a story, and the rest is history,” she said. “I loved the actual writing and having plot twists pop into my head in the middle of class. I absolutely loved ranting to (friend) Gracie Prill about all my ideas while also having to keep it a secret from my other friends so as not to spoil the surprise.”
She said the toughest part was buying the ISBNs (the little number above the barcode).
“We had to do a lot of research on the website we were using to buy them,” she said. “We had a choice. We could either pay $100 for one ISBN or I could buy 10 for $150 so that I could publish books in the future. After we figured everything out, it became pretty simple.”
LeAnn said she had a great time creating her book, and it’s definitely not going to be her last.
“It is part of a series, so I’m so excited to continue writing about these characters,” she said. “However, I’m currently working on a stand-alone murder mystery book. Seeing as it took me around six months to write ‘Crowned in Illusions,’ the second book that I’ve named ‘Crowned in Guilt’ will not be out for a while. But I’m hoping my current work, ‘Caught Red-Handed,’ will be done at the beginning of next school year.”
LeAnn has some advice for those would-be book authors just sitting on an idea.
” A silly little book idea is not a silly little book idea,” she stressed. “If you try hard enough, you can bring what’s in your imagination to life and let others see your very own comfort zone. However, you can’t be insecure about what you created. You have to be confident in what you wrote and understand that not everyone is going to like it. If you’re confident in your work, no one else’s opinion matters. Do research, make sure you read all the small print – even when it’s boring – and get people you trust to do the important helping jobs, like cover art and editing. Of course, you want to edit it yourself as well.”
“Crowned in Illusions” is dedicated to LeAnn’s English teacher, David Snider.
“LeAnn publishing an entire novel as a freshman is an incredible feat,” Mr. Snider said. “I’m really proud of her, and she should be proud of herself. She’s gonna do big things.”
