As Lake Highland starts the new year by planning exciting events designed to inspire many students, the campus welcomes award-winning author, Candace Fleming. She is well-known for many of her children’s grade-level books and intriguing non-fiction books. This campus visit in February will allow students to take a behind-the-scenes look at how she creates all her famous pieces, including The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia, Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart, Fatal Throne, and more. This visit will definitely inspire young writers in the LHP community as students become interested in reading her novels.
Candace Fleming had always been interested in writing and storytelling before she became a famous writer. In fact, she used to tell people fictional stories about a, “Three-legged cat or a ghost in [her] attic,” according to candacefleming.com. Due to how fascinating and fun her stories were, people always believed her and always enjoyed listening to her tales. That led to her discovery of writing and a passion to be an author when she grew up. However, in college she, “Discovered yet another passion — history.” History was another form of storytelling for her, and made her fall in love with stories even more. This became a key source of inspiration for her non-fiction pieces as she wrote about real events from her narrative perspective.
Like many writers, however, she also faced challenges along the way with getting her work published and shown to the world. She states that, “Writing children’s books is harder than it looks. For three years, I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn’t give up.” No matter how many challenges she faced, her determination helped shape her journey as a writer. She is hoping to help many young writers at LHP understand that rejection is a normal part of this book-writing process, and the only way to success is patience and the willpower to do anything.
Additionally, this author visit was made possible through the efforts of the President of the Write of Passage Club, Alyx Cunninham, grade 12, and the LHP’s Library Department Coordinator, Mrs. Cindy Wray. When asked about what the entire process is like for organizing this whole visit, Mrs. Wray stated, “To be honest, this is a multiyear process. We maintain a list of possible authors and contact them regarding availability and cost. When an author is available and fits our budget, we share the information with the administration for approval. Our goal is to have our author secured for the following year when we leave school in May.” This demonstrates truly all of the hard work and preparation it takes to organize an event like this.
Both Mrs. Wray and Alyx Cunningham hope that this event will be impactful to many. Alyx specifically stated the goal of this visit: “ With so many books open to so many students, and with so many genres available, I hope that students can find a novel they enjoy and can become passionate about. With the passion and dedication required to write just one novel, I hope students can recognize the great efforts Fleming has made, and appreciate the fast catalogue she has developed over the years of writing.” As they work together to create a memorable experience, they hope many will be motivated by Fleming’s passion for writing and do many creative and amazing things in the future. Hearing this author’s story will make students want to read and write about topics that they are interested in, just as Fleming took her interest in history and wrote novels based on that. As always, Lake Highland will provide extraordinary ways to impact students and provide them with amazing opportunities.
