Christian ’26 recently published a children's book titled Cosmic Cat. He began this process in Humanities during his sophomore year, where it was a project for former Wooster teacher, Ms. Wilbourne. From there, his mother inspired him to take it seriously and expand on the writing in the future. Growing up, Christian always knew that he was passionate about creative writing.
“I felt that writing a children's story as a first story would teach me about the writing process in the future,” Christian said. “I want to do something with creative writing in my college journey.”
In ninth grade, Christian flourished under the teaching of Ms. Higgins, who pushed him to write more. Christian loved to write in his writer's notebook, rather than structured essays, because he could be more creative and even incorporate humor into his works.
“When you're given a group of examples of writing and you look at the student voice, you can always identify Christian's voice because it's very distinctive in his writing,” Ms. Higgins said. “I think it’s a characteristic of pretty strong writers.”
His book is about a cat in space named Whiskers, who is known as Cosmic Cat, due to her adventures through the galaxy. After getting tired of traveling all the time, she wants to find a place to settle down, so she makes a new world for herself. After she makes it, she gets other space animals to live there, and she carefully watches over her creation.
The publishing process was simpler than most people think, Christian said. First, he wrote the book, then collaborated with an illustrator to bring the words to life. He then found a good publisher, who happened to be a family friend. The publisher then made copies of the book to start selling. He put the book for sale by uploading the script, book cover, details and summary of the book.
On Nov. 3, Christian held a Zoom meeting for friends and family alike to participate in the book launch. This was a very successful event, bringing over 80 individuals together to celebrate Christian’s accomplishment. Many people from the Wooster community attended the event, such as teachers, students, and even his basketball coach. The event also included a signed book giveaway. Members of Christian’s family and his publisher spoke, congratulating him on his achievement. He also took the time to share his process and appreciate those who helped him along his journey.
The book is available for purchase through Amazon for $9.99 on Kindle and $20 in paperback. Right after publishing, his book was on the Amazon bestseller's list for Low Fantasy, a subgenre of books where supernatural or magical elements intrude into an otherwise normal world.
Post-Publishing Update:
News12 featured Christian in a video on Jan. 27. Upon hearing that a local high school student was a published author, they were eager to hear Christians story.
“The whole process was nerve-racking,” Christian said. “The interviewer was very nice and made sure I was comfortable.”
The news station came to the Wooster campus to interview Christian and Ms. Higgins, who played an important role in the development of the book.
Sharing his book with people beyond his community inspired Christian to keep writing and doing what he loves.
Yiorgos '27
Journalism Student
