They are everywhere. Standing in line at the grocery store. Sitting across the room at the movie theatre. Living just a few houses down the street.

Anyone can be an author. People just need to know where to look.

Catlaina Vrana is an author. She is also a sophomore currently attending Blue Valley Southwest. She published her book, “Runner” in 2013. Vrana wrote as well as illustrated the 122 page book when she was a seventh grader. She finally got it published this year.

This book is about a girl named Carla who is special. She is called a ‘Runner.’ Runners have greater strength, coordination, stamina, memory and eyesight than the normal human. She is taken to a facility that contains and studies her and other Runners.

Runner has themes of “Judgement, family problems, and enslavement,” Vrana said.

She said it was hard to get it published. “[I] self-published, which means I payed to have it published but it took a lot longer than it should have,” she said.

Vrana said she has always wanted to just get the story out there. She was inspired by Gail Carson Levine’s book, “Writing Magic.” “It explains the trials and tribulations of publishing,” she said.

When a story is going to be published, it can take a long time after the initial manuscript is finished. The book then has to be edited, typed up and sent to the publisher. Vrana said it took her almost six months to complete this.

The self-publishing company Vrana used is called KidPub. According to
KidPub, it publishes books, hosts forums and has a page that young writers can post stories and poems to. The stories are then read and edited by other young authors.

Vrana is planning to publish a second and third book in the series and hopes the future books will be accepted and published by a traditional mainstream publishing company.

In traditional publishing, the “slush pile” is a collection of manuscripts that the company won’t publish right away, but will possibly publish if they are doing nothing else. Vrana says she hopes her future stories will be accepted and bypass the “slush pile.”

Vrana and the librarians have been working on getting her book into the Southwest library.

To get a book through processing, first it has to be reviewed. After it is decided that the book is appropriate, it is sent to District Office for more review.

“It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months,” Southwest librarian Ms. Hogan said.

A signed copy is currently on the shelves in the Sci-fi/Fantasy section.

Students who have read her book like it. “Overall, I enjoyed it,” ninth grader, Claire Nelson said after she read the book. “Good job, Cat!”

Vrana says to push through with your writing. “Don’t stop writing and be patient because it take a really long time,” she said.