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By Ching Lee/Appeal-Democrat
November 5, 2004 - 9:00AM
When Yuba City author Joe DeMonte is not writing about magic, he's busy sharing it.
Since his first children's novel, "Melanie's Magic Stones," was
published last fall, DeMonte has become a familiar face at Yuba-Sutter
schools, where he has become a mini-celebrity among students and
teachers alike.
His latest stop was at Linda Elementary School on Friday, during
which he visited Tim Whitwright's fourth- and fifth-grade class to
introduce his latest book, "Lucy and the Magic Factory," which was
recently published.
Upon his entrance, several of the children immediately leaped from
their seats to greet him. They remember him from last year when he
visited them as third-graders to read "Melanie's Magic Stones."
This time, DeMonte wanted to challenge his young readers to pick up
the mighty pen and become published authors themselves. He proposed a
writing contest in which the best three stories would have a chance to
be published on a Web site for young writers.
"I do that at all the classes," said DeMonte, a former salesman in
his late 60s. "It kind of inspires them to write. It shows them there
are rewards to write, and I think they enjoy the competition."
DeMonte noted that a Linda Elementary third-grader, Cheryl Lynn
Young, has already had her story, "The Horrible Toothache," posted on
the Web site.
"I think all of them would like to see their name in print, to be
recognized by their peers or their teachers and parents," he said. "So
it's quite a treat. When I was in third grade, I didn't have anything
like that. There were no writing contests or anything."
His own success came rather quickly when "Melanie's Magic Stones" caught
the attention of movie producers. DeMonte not only sold the rights
to the story, but written the screenplay himself. The movie, originally
due out this Christmas, is currently still in production after running
behind schedule and may be released sometime in 2005. The story
involves a young girl who finds an old bottle containing stones that
she believes are magic.
In "Lucy and the Magic Factory," DeMonte follows the adventures of
another young heroine who finds "magic" in a theme park known as The
Magic Factory. DeMonte said that, although his stories are plucked from
his imagination, his characters are often inspired by the many children
he has met in schools he's visited.
"I always believe there's a little bit of magic in each of them,"
said DeMonte. "I think there's a little bit of Lucy and Melanie in all
of these kids."
And he's hoping his magic will rub off on the students as they try
their hands at writing. He encouraged them to let their imaginations
run wild rather than making up stories about their classmates.
Khristyna Cusick, 9, said she's up for DeMonte's challenge.
"I think it's going to be fun," said the fourth-grader. "I'm going to write about three friends."
Story copyright Appeal Democrat http://www.appealdemocrat.com
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