Local 11-year-old Publishes Novel

Bethany Huang is still getting used to her Blue Mountain Middle School classmates asking for her autograph on everything from pieces of paper to their own heads (the latter of which was a request too weird to grant, she says with a laugh).

But Huang, who wrote her debut book, The Eiffel Tower's Daughter: The Truth Behind the Lies, when she was just 10-years-old, is not letting the attention she has been receiving from both her peers and the media get to her head.

"I don't really take it (to mean) I'm better than everyone else," Huang said. "I just don't really think about it that much unless I have something to do.  If I have a book signing or an interview I'll have some friends help me out or something like that so I can have some fun with it too."

English has always been one of Huang's favorite subjects, she said, but she tended to compose mostly poetry. After some encouragement from her teacher, Mr. Hill, she decided to try her hand at stories.

Huang's mother Jennifer bought her a copy of Donna E. Hick's The Most Fascinating Places on Earth when Huang was eight-years-old. A look at an image of the Eiffel Tower inspired the ambitious child to begin writing her book.

Huang also drew inspiration from fellow child authors who published novels at young ages. She cites one of her biggest influences as Nancy Yi Fan, who published her first book Sword Bird at age 13 (Huang read it when she was 7). Huang said other influences were Alexa Rivadeneira, who published Confessions from the Heart of a Teenage when she 14-years-old and Sarah Renee, who published The Tiger Princess when she was 12.

Huang has never visited France herself, but decided to set The Eiffel Tower's Daughter in the country that inspired her, which required a substantial amount of studying French geography and customs.

"I just really like France's culture and I always loved reading about France and the Eiffel Tower; what food they eat, what they did and things like that," Huang said. "A lot of the city names I got from this map I have, and I did have to do a lot of research, too. It was a lot of fun, though."

The Eiffel Tower's Daughter tells the tale of Swanilde, a young girl who seeks refuge with her father and long lost brother, Val, after she discovers that her stepfather Andreyev is a spy. When Andreyev captures Swanilde's family, it is up to her to save them.

"The message I want to convey is that as long as they work hard for it, they can do anything that they want to," Huang said of her readers.

The book's message reflects the advice her mother has given her throughout the process. "She is very gifted in many aspects of her interests," said Jennifer Huang. "But I only have one piece of advice for her: 'Whatever you do, devote 100 percent, and you don't give up. You have to keep on trying, overcome all the obstacles, and know where your strengths and weaknesses are.'"

Huang spent about a year writing the approximately 100 pages of the book, which she started in the summer of fourth grade.  She experienced periods of time when the story flowed almost effortlessly and others when the dreaded writer's block stalled progress. 

"A lot of times it would be really easy. I would just type and type and type and sit there for a long time," said Huang. "But a lot of the time I'll sit there and I'll write less than a page, sometimes maybe even a sentence. And then I'll stop, come back maybe a few days later, occasionally a few weeks later, and start to write a lot again."

Her characters names were influenced from those in popular ballets, a dance that Huang studied when she was younger.  She always enjoyed reading the plays from which her dance numbers were chosen. The name Swanilde came from the ballet Coppeila.

"I got the name Val from another book.  It's sort of prince-like and it sounded really regal," Huang said, adding that other characters were given Egyptian names that she researched online.

Once the book was completed Huang experienced success where many aspiring writers never do, in finding a publisher.

With her parents' help Huang researched and applied to various publishing houses. Ultimately, AuthorHouse offered to print the The Eiffel Tower's Daughter.

"I contacted AuthorHouse for the publishing packages – they had a booklet that tells you what they'd do," said Huang. "I received it, I looked through it and talked to my parents and after a few weeks and some editing we got it done."

The Eiffel Tower's Daughter is now sold by Barnes and Noble and can be found at the bookstore's Mohegan branch, as well as on several online sites, including Amazon and Borders. It costs between $11 and $15 for a paperback and $20 for a hardcover copy. 

Huang is currently working on her second book, The Chang Family, and has  completed 27 pages at the time of this writing. For a novice storyteller, she has an ambitious hope to publish a book every year. 

To learn more about Huang and The Eiffel Tower's Daughter or to order the book, visit her website, www.bethanyhuang.com.