TOWAMENCIN — North Penn senior Mya Richter always dreamed of becoming a published author. One day, her dream suddenly came true, only it was by accident.

“I went through a website [to get it published] because I wanted to have one printed book just for my dad, so he could see that I actually could do it. People started to express interest in it as soon as my dad posted about it on Facebook, and it all happened so fast from there,” Richter said.

Richter had a passion for writing all throughout her life. However, it wasn’t until middle school when she made it her dream to become an author. When it happened much sooner than she expected, she was full of emotions.

“When I saw my book with my name on it, I started crying,” Richter said. “The first thing I did was call my friend to tell her about it and the first thing she did was cry.”

Her first published book, “The Death of the Blood Queen,” was written during the time when her parents were getting a divorce as a way to cope with her emotions. The book revolves around the idea that humans all have good and bad sides to them. The main character, who comes from a dark past, struggles on the border of deciding between the evil and the good.

“I had the idea in my mind because I was so emotional and I thought what if I didn’t follow the rules of society anymore and I could just do what I want whenever I wanted? I didn’t have to go with either parent, I could just do what I wanted to do,” Richter said.

Richter takes most of her inspiration from vivid dreams and enjoys writing fictional stories that explore a world completely based on her imagination. 

“I like writing stories that aren’t bound by the limitations of reality. I want to go beyond those limitations and explain how if humanity and reality were different, what could happen,” Richter said.

Publishing her book through that website was just the beginning. After Richter publicized her book on social media, an owner of a bookstore in New Jersey contacted her asking if she would like her book to be sold in her store.

“I remember we took the trip down to personally give her the copies of my book. We did a photoshoot outside this little bookstore on the boardwalk, and I remember thinking that people I don’t know are going to walk into this store and buy my book. That just blew my mind. You never expect something like that to happen,” Richter said.

“When I walked out of the bookstore, I remember thinking that this bookstore will forever be my first big break,” Richter said.

When people read her book “The Death of the Blood Queen,” she wants them to follow the journey with the main character to understand where she’s coming from. 

“In the book, she’s raised differently compared to other people. She was raised to be a terrible person, and it’s really not her fault. I want readers to understand that and know that she’s just struggling to find out who she is. She has to go through this challenge and the journey to figure it out herself, and I think people resonate with that because you don’t really know who you are until you go out into the world and make your own choices,” Richter said.

Months after she published her first book, she started working on her next one during quarantine, which happened to be a series. The first of the series, “War and Ruins: The Taken,” is currently published while the other two are in the works of being edited.

“We were in quarantine and there was nothing to do. I remember my dad and I were sitting at the kitchen table and he told me that there’s a lot going on right now that you could take inspiration from. I kind of just remembered that as I was watching the news and reading social media posts, and I realized that there was really something here that I could make out of it,” Richter said. “I took the concept of a corrupted government that we’re not exactly seeing, but the theme is there in the real world. I took that concept into this book and thought what would happen if this government was just so controlling and so corrupt that they’re willing to destroy society to keep their way?”

In the book, the characters are made up of people from ages 13 to 26. It’s set in a post-nuclear war era after the government decided to make things go their way by taking away their memories. The characters are immune to the radiation and many are confused and unaware of what’s happening until they begin to uncover the lies that have been told by the government. From there, they have to decide what they have to do as the lies start to unfold.

Writing the first book of the trilogy took her roughly 4 months and immediately after she finished it, she began the second book and then the third. Originally, she planned on only writing one book, but as she was writing, she came up with more twists and turns.

Now, whenever people ask her about her interests, she tells them that she enjoys writing and is now a published author.

“It’s one of those things that make people stop and think because I’m really young. It’s something that makes people really surprised and I love seeing the surprised looks on their faces,” Richter said.

Richter’s family had always supported her with her writing. When they found out that her book was published and copies were being sold, they were proud that she was able to accomplish a goal she had for so long.

“My family always told me that if I’m good at writing, then I should write. I remember my mom was tearing up because she was excited to see my name,” Richter said.

She dedicated her book to her grandmother who was also a writer, which she didn’t know about until she was in middle school. One memory she always remembered was when her grandmother read a few of her stories and thought she was plagiarizing because it was well-written for someone her age at the time. She even said that Richter was “channeling the spirit of her great uncle” because he was a published author as well. When her grandmother read the dedication page, it brought tears to her eyes.

“I’ll never forget her sitting in the chair at my kitchen table and seeing it and making sounds of joy that I can’t even describe,” Richter recalled.

Looking back, one of the few struggles she dealt with as she was writing was keeping up with it. There were days where she didn’t feel like writing, but she knew that she had to write a little every single day to maintain a routine. She also dealt with writer’s block, but overcame it by asking her dad for suggestions when she needed it. Another thing she had to deal with was finding cover photos where she wouldn’t get in trouble for copyright.

Besides the writing, her favorite part about the entire experience was hearing her family talk about her books. While they were reading it, they would often discuss the plot and what they thought would happen next, and Richter enjoyed seeing how invested they were in her work.

In the future, Richter hopes to publish more books. She also wants to attend college for film to learn how to bring her stories to life.

“The percentage of people who actually read is getting less and less, and the rising form of entertainment is movies. I have a really vivid vision when I write—the scenes just play in my mind—so I think I could become a good director,” Richter said.

Her dream is to be hired by Marvel to be a screenwriter because she loves the thought of creating things that go beyond reality. She hopes to be able to take her imaginations and bring them to life for people to see and talk about.

Throughout the process of writing and publishing her books, Richter learned to not give up. There were times when she felt like giving up because she thought that nobody would want to read it, especially because she is a young writer. She eventually learned that she has a voice and people actually do want to listen to it, despite her age.

“I realized that I have a voice and as a writer, it’s one of my responsibilities to use it,” Richter said. “People I don’t even know reach out to me to tell me how much they love my writing and it makes me feel powerful. I realized that I could have an influence on others.”

WHERE TO ACCESS THE BOOKS

https://myarichter.com/

Stone Harbor Book Shop

https://www.thebookpatch.com/