11 year old West Nipissing author publishes first novel
At 11 years old, Emma Lewington might be West Nipissing’s youngest novelist. Earlier this month, she published her debut novel through Amazon, which is now available as a paperback. She spent about a year writing her novel, which comes in at just under 90 pages. It’s geared toward the youth and young adult market.
“I started to enjoy writing more and more,” the author explained, detailing what led her to write a book. “And my story kept getting longer, so I decided to turn it into a novel.” Her love of reading also inspired her to write, as “the more I read, the more I realized I wanted to write one.”
Emma is home-schooled by her parents Dave and Chantal Lewington, and the three found room for Emma’s writing within the curriculum. She writes in brief sessions many times per week, and her newfound hobby is becoming a passion.
Her dad joked that sometimes they’ll catch Emma writing fiction when she’s supposed to be focused on another lesson, but that’s a problem most parents wouldn’t mind having. Overall, the balance between schoolwork and writing is healthy, although it can be a challenge to keep a writer from the page.
The novel is called Stella and Crystal, a tale of a girl and her horse. Stella and her family recently moved to Alberta, with her horse, Crystal. Before long, the two become friendly with the local riding community. However, things begin to turn for the worse when an evil ranch owner kidnaps one of their new horse friends. Now, the two (and some friends) must perform a daring rescue to help their friend escape from the menacing ranch owner.
High stakes stuff, and Lewington mentioned “the second one is going to be even more intense.” Yes, she’s already planning a sequel, and she’s recently wrapped up chapter five, so things are underway. If you become enthralled with the adventures of Stella and Crystal, rest assured you won’t have to wait too long to re-enter that world.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca
