Cydney Lawson wasn't planning on being a published author.
"I've been writing stories since I was little," said Lawson, sophomore in English. "Eventually it got to the point of thinking specific scenes and writing them down. It wouldn't really go anywhere until my current book."
Lawson's book, "Wingless," was published in March 2011, and it is the first in her soon-to-be-finished trilogy.
Lawson said she remembers as a young girl sitting with her grandfather at his computer and coming up with stories to go along with pictures.
"She's got so many stories in her head, and there's so much talent that is just about to blossom," said Alonzo Smith, Lawson's grandfather.
Lawson began writing "Wingless" her senior year of high school after committing to paper a recurring image from her imagination.
"This girl was falling from the sky and landing on this boy's lawn," Lawson said. "He had to figure out who she was, where she came from and what she wanted. It kind of just took off from there."
After completing "Wingless," Lawson said she let friends and family read it, as she did with her previous works.
"All of the characters are very much their own person, and you can connect with their personalities," said Alex McPeak, a friend who's read many of Lawson's short stories. "It keeps you hooked on the book."
Lawson said family and friends encouraged her to publish "Wingless," so she began sending manuscripts to nearly 100 publishing houses. Her story was selected by publisher Simon and Schuster.
"I was really excited, but then it turns out they started trying to change things, not just editing," Lawson said. "I was kind of put off by that."
Not wanting to change her story, Lawson decided to self-publish, formatting the book herself and finding a cover artist and editor.
"It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but it was something that was really important to me to keep the story the exact same as it was," Lawson said.
"Displaced," the sequel to "Wingless," will be published next month.
"The first book was a lot easier because I could go wherever my imagination took me," Lawson said. "This second book I had to focus on the details of the first one. It's a lot harder because I have to discipline myself into writing the same people with the same goals."
Lawson is now working on the final book of the trilogy.
"I hope this last one will be 40 times better than the first one," Lawson said. "I just hope to keep expanding what I love to do so much."
Smith is also excited about his granddaughter's blossoming talent.
"It's just the tip of the iceberg," Smith said. "It has made me very proud seeing where she started and seeing where she's coming . The best is still yet to come."
"Wingless" can be found on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and createspace.com.
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