Allen Zadoff, author of I Am The Weapon, spoke with the Writers’ Club group about his rise to fame as a published author.

“I was an actor in high school and I wrote screenplays as a junior. I graduated from graduate school with a Masters in Theater as a Director. I have always loved stories but never started writing novels until my late 20s,” Zadoff said.

Zadoff’s book I Am The Weapon was selected as the 2014 Young Adult Library Services Association Top 10 Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Zadoff was also surprised when he was contacted by Hollywood and told his book would become a movie.

“Focus on your writing because it will get better with every word you write, don’t worry about being published because it is coming. Novels take a lot of time, commitment, concentration and they are complex. For young writers, the best thing to do is to start with writing short stories and practice writing,” Zadoff said.

I Am The Weapon was first sold on a proposal, which is unusual for fiction novels, according to Zadoff. Proposals are usually for non-fiction pieces, like autobiography’s, since the purpose for a proposal is to pitch the idea and share the big picture. So many publishers were soon interested that there was an auction to see who would get to publish the book. That was the beginning of Zadoff’s The Unknown Assassin series.

“When you are ready for an agent, you will find one. I knew no one so I sent out letters with a brief description of my book and a biography on myself. A good thing to keep in mind when agent hunting is to find an agent with similar genre interests. Look at books you love and find out who the agent is for the authors. For example, I suggest looking at the Hunger Games or Divergent, if that is the genre you write. If needed write to the author and ask them for contact information,” Zadoff said.

Senior Phoebe Burns used her time to talk to Zadoff about getting a point across to readers and was pleased with the answer and the interaction she had with him over Skype.

“He was communicated easily, his personality was very kind and it didn’t feel intimidating to talk with this amazing author who’s book is going to be a movie,” Burns said.

Every English teacher always asks about the symbolism. English teacher Renee Quaife had the chance to ask Zadoff the age old question: is symbolism added into a book on purpose or by accident?

“I think the symbolism part was more of an unconscious accident. I just write what I’m inspired to write, and then I step back, review the work and make decisions based on what is the most natural thing that keeps popping up in my writing. I just go with that. A skilled novelist takes out the obvious and adds in symbols as a service of telling the story. A great novel is one in which the author’s hand is invisible. The signs of great writing are in finding the symbols,” Zadoff said.

Imagination is what drives writers to write and sometimes that can be difficult to do with school, work and chores around every inch of a growing novelist’s life.

“For me, finding inspiration is different things. I like to find somewhere quiet and I listen for it. Inspiration is inside us all the time. It’s like a river flowing all the time but sometimes we can’t hear it clearly. Being in my quiet place helps me connect and feel what’s inside,” Zadoff said.