As a teenager, it is hard to imagine that a fellow classmate has already made a name for herself in the world. Senior Samantha Payne recently published her first novel Strangers of Eden.

    “I started working on my first novel (in second grade),” Payne said. “I just remember that it was a mystery and never finished writing it because I lost the journal. That’s when I decided to be a writer.”

    English teacher Leslie Hunter believes that Payne has potential because, like S.E. Hinton and Jane Austen, she is a young author.

    “(Age) is what she has going for her,” Hunter said. “It brings a unique perspective. It’s possible (to publish a book at a young age) but it’s not common.”

    Payne was turned down by three publishers before it was published by PublishAmerica.

     “At first I wasn’t sure about how to go about it,” Payne said. “If you don’t have a literary agent it’s difficult. You go through all these deadlines, it was a long process. I was thankful when I was done.”

    Hunter was impressed that Payne did such a good job writing the novel and managed to publish it.

    “I thought it was amazing that a student would take initiative and follow through on getting it published,” Hunter said. “There might be people that talk about (publishing a book), but they don’t follow through with it. I really thought she did a good job developing character through dialogue.”

    Payne took her first-hand experiences and used them as inspiration for her plot line.

    “The summer before freshman year I met a boy,” Payne said. “We started dating and he inspired the main character. The more people I met, the story started to unfold.”

Strangers of Eden has many underlying messages, according to Payne.

    “There are a lot (of underlying messages),” Payne said. “It deals with a lot of issues that people would generally face. (Some include) deterioration of human innocence, redemption and that you’re not always alone in the problems you face.”

    For Payne, writing is more than a hobby. “(Being an author is) my career goal,” Payne said. “I plan on going to New York University and majoring in creative writing.”

    For aspiring writers like Payne, Hunter says to be persistent.

    “There are a lot of different (publishers) online and she was determined to get published,” Hunter said. “It’s about perseverance, trying and not getting discouraged if you get rejected. Take Twilight for example. No one would publish it and look at it now.”  

    Strangers of Eden is available to purchase online at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com for $29.95.