When her family was thinking about moving to Texas three years ago, Maggie Mei Lewis, then barely in her teens, so wanted to stay in Maryland that she hatched a seemingly far-fetched plan.
"I thought, 'I'll write a book, and I'll make enough money to stay here,' " says Lewis, 16, who lives in Turkey Point.
She still hasn't earned enough to be independent, but the result of her labors — "Moonlight Memoirs: Remembering That Family and Friends Are Forever," a richly illustrated children's book — recently took first prize in the spirituality category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, a competition for self-published authors around the world.
Lewis' own journey has been unlikely. Born in China, she was found abandoned in a railway station as an infant and later taken to an orphanage. That's where Rod Lewis and Greta Johnson of Edgewater, nurses who worked for the Navy, adopted her and brought her to the U.S. Now a home-schooled high school junior who plays violin, writes poetry and draws, she loves the menagerie of animals that give her family home the aura of a children's zoo.
After the death of a favorite pet, then a relative, Lewis dreamed up a tale she felt would encourage others dealing with grief. "Moonlight Memoirs" — written in verse, illustrated by Melody Lea Lamb, a New England artist, and published by a company the Lewises founded — tells of a wise old mouse who takes two younger mice aside to tell what happened to those who have gone before.
"[This] is a sweetly useful title to help teach children about loss," says Terry Hong, a media arts consultant for the Smithsonian Asian-Pacific Program in Washington. "With such insight for one so young, we'll be on the watch for [Lewis'] future endeavors."
Lewis has discussed the book, published last August, at local book festivals and on TV, and it will be displayed at festivals in Beijing, New York and Frankfurt, Germany, later this year.
The road to publication was longer than she expected, but it could serve as a primer for first-time authors in the modern age, especially those who want to maintain control over their idea.
Question: Your book has a "spiritual" message, but it's about mice. Why's that?
Answer: We've always had lots of animals. Right now we have four dogs, five cats, two birds, four rabbits, a hamster and multiple horses in different locations. ... We've had gerbils and guinea pigs. I especially like rodents. [At 6], I saw some mice in a pet store, thought they were very cute and got them. They kept on breeding until there were about 40.
Q: How'd that go?
A: I learned mice can be mean. Some of them kept biting me. I gave them to pet stores. But one, Blackie, never bit me. I let him ride on my shoulder. I trained him to do all kinds of stuff — to climb ladders and go through a little hole in my hand. Things like that. I set up treats for him and talked to him and praised him when he got there. I didn't realize mice are smart, but they really are.
Q: What happened to him?
A: By age 3, mice really start getting older. [When I was 9], he lost some hair and started coughing, making sounds that weren't fun to hear. When he died, we buried him near our pond with a lot of flowers, but I cried for like a week. It was hard losing a friend.
Q: How did the book come about?
A: I thought, if I'm this upset about a pet, something like this could be happening to anyone in the world. Who's comforting them? I started writing ideas through "Moonlight Memoirs." I wrote a message that I'd like to hear myself.
Q: Why did you go the self-publishing route?
A: My mom talked to a friend who is a literary agent. She told us if we went to a traditional publishing house, I wouldn't get to pick the illustrator. I don't think that's a good idea. And she said they'd edit my words. I wouldn't have any control over the book. The only other option was self-publishing.
Now that the book is the way I wanted it, people can see what I can do. We're trying to get it out there so we can sell to a major publishing company in the future.
Q: How did the writing go?
A: It's a lot harder than it seems. My book is 24 pages, but it took a year to write and went through over 200 edits. My mom and I subcontracted with a [communications] company and paid for an editor, [who] would ask, "what if the mice did this or that?" Sometimes it was just her opinion. ... I'd disagree, or I'd change it, then change it back. One of the main things I didn't want to happen was for the book to be written by other people besides me.
Q: How did you find an artist?
A: I looked through a lot of illustrators' websites but couldn't find any that fit the story, so I tried looking on eBay. They have sites for something called ACEO cards [art card editions and originals]. They're little works of art with a lot of detail, about the size of baseball cards.
I typed in "ACEO mouse," and I saw one I loved, by Melody [Lamb]. I went to her site, checked her bio, and told my mom, "I want this person to illustrate the book."
I contacted her with a message on eBay. When she found out I was 14, she was like, "Can I talk to your mom?"
Q: What did you like so much about her work?
A: Mice and rats are usually considered vermin. A lot of artists portray them as creepy-looking. Hers were cute and sweet.
Q: She lives in Massachusetts. How did you work together?
A: I started [e-mailing] her the words to the parts I wanted illustrated. She'd get inspiration and [e-mail] me a rough draft. If I liked it, I'd write back, "continue." She'd color, fill it in, paint it. She used India ink, watercolor and colored pencil.
The first illustration she sent was the one we used for the cover. I [thought], "Wow; it's actually happening! We're going to get this published." I never even met her face-to-face until she came down for the Baltimore Book Festival last year.
Q: Did any other experiences help you write the story?
A: I think so. My mom's mother passed away in 2008 [after an illness]. She has been with me my whole life, and she's the only grandparent I ever had. We had just visited her [in California]. A week later, she died.
She knew I was writing [the book]. She had my aunt read her the manuscript. I think she knows what's happening, and she's happy about it. She's in a good place, and she's happy.
I do believe the message in the book — that your loved ones watch over you when they're gone.
Q: What has surprised you most about the process of creating a book?
A: Originally I thought that you just wrote … and sent it to a publishing house, and it got published. I've learned a lot about publishing … and also, from my parents, about how to run a business. I learned you have to do marketing and publicity, which takes a lot of time.
Q: What kind of marketing have you done?
A: We've found book blogs to advertise on. We started a website that got a lot of hits and [made] a few sales. I've also [learned] how to use HTML code and started a blog, where I write entries whenever something new comes up. About 500 people have come to it. I've done readings and signings.
Q: How have the readings gone?
A: I'm working through that thing about going in front of a crowd and talking. I went to a Kiwanis Club meeting in Annapolis right after getting my wisdom teeth out, and my voice was shaky, but it got better as I went. I'm getting better at not stuttering or using "um" a lot.
Q: How about the signings?
A: I like doing the publicity, because I do want my book to get out there ... but I do get kind of nervous being on the spot.
Sometimes [grownups] come over, read the book and start crying. That freaked me out at first. I'd say "I'm sorry!" They'd say, "No, it's fine. God bless you!" I appreciate it even more if they buy a copy.
Q: What does winning the Indie Award mean to you?
A: I'm getting a plaque or a medal. That should be cool! And the contest is put on by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group. They represent independent presses around the world, and they market the winners a lot. … They have connections to traditional publishing houses. They get it out there.
Q: Do you plan to write another book?
A: I'd like to, but I'm not exactly sure what I'd write about. I'm waiting to get inspired, I suppose. I do think it would be easier this time. We know what we're in for.
Q: Any advice for others who want to write a children's book?
A: Discouraging things will happen, but don't give up. I had many times where I had writer's block. … And we had a big problem with the books. They [came back with] the wrong ISBN [book identifier number] on them — 3,000 books, sitting in our driveway, all marked wrong. We put stickers on every copy with the correct numbers.
Just believe in your story, that it can get out there and that people will like it. … It takes a lot of effort, but stay dedicated. Make sure it happens the way you want.