ST.PETE TIMES
Job Spotlight| GLORIA TESCH
While most kids are goofing off with texting, MySpace and Facebook, 14-year-old Gloria Tesch is writing, editing and preparing the story boards and concepts for her third novel. • She published her first book, Maradonia and the ..Seven.. ..Bridges.. (....Liberty....’s Book Press), at 13. Her second novel, Maradonia and the Gold of Ophir, will be published soon. She is working on her third in hopes of a release at the age of 15. • Not a fan of television or “wasting time,” Gloria spends most of her day writing and answering e-mails about her books.
What made you want to write a full-length novel at such a young age?
Well, anything can suggest a story to me. If I hear just one sentence, that would be all I need to create a whole story. I see real pictures and I write them down. Also, my love for fiction and fantasy also played a role in (inspiring me). I love reading lots of books, like up to five different books per week.
Did being homeschooled have a role in your writing?
I have more time for writing, so I spend more time writing. Before, when I was in (regular) school, I didn’t have a lot of time. I was doing homework and I had eight hours of school.
Do you have plans to go beyond a trilogy?
Yes, I have a plan to go up to nine different books with the same Maradonia books. My current book shows the nine different books that could come from this. I had a movie offer from ....New York...., but we didn’t take it because it was too low. We also found out afterward that they wanted to buy my rights out and sell it to a bigger movie company. I wouldn’t have known what would happen to my story.
Do you have any advice for writers who want to write a novel?
I think they should first know what they are writing about. Otherwise, they are sticking to one chapter (at a time) and constantly editing and redeveloping. I think they should just write it all out and then go back and develop what they have.
When did you start reading five books a week?
My love for reading started in third grade. We had this big treehouse in the backyard and I had gotten a whole pack of books, Magic Treehouse books, and I sat up there and read the whole thing. And I did that the whole summer. I came back to school with an entirely new reading level, and after that I had always loved reading.
Do you think the amount of reading you did had an impact on your imagination?
Yes! I have a saying which I tell people all the time, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” So, I was reading before and now I’m leading people because I wrote a huge novel. ....Reading.... totally opened my mind up.
I usually like to read fiction and fantasy. I don’t like reading nonfiction a lot. Fantasy has many different doors, you can choose one way or another way and there are so many opportunities you can have. If you write nonfiction, it’s a strict line, a straight line and that is why I like fantasy more.
How many copies have sold?
I think we printed out about a thousand copies and it is all sold out. I have editing for the second edition of the first book and the second book will be printed out at the same time.
World’s Youngest Novelist Gloria Tesch:
is Preparing Sequel
Featured Talent:
The nice thing about having a mother who is an artist is that the first novel in your fantasy trilogy is illustrated with original drawings that match the professional output of your writing.
The Maradonia series emerged from the imagination of Gloria Tesch, currently the Youngest Published Novelist making such an impact on the world of science fiction and fantasy. The author recently appeared at the Westfield Countryside Mall. The lovely young woman was well received by ....Clearwater.... residents. Sales are booming.
The website for Ms. Tesch has a video of this young
talent and her new novel. The forthcoming
Triology will contain the following works:
Maradonia & the ....Seven.. ..Bridges....
Maradonia & the Gold of Ophir
Maradonia & the ....Battle.... for the Key
The illustrations of her mother, Marina Terkulova, evoke the tone
of other-worldliness. Conspiracy, travel between dimensions, treachery
and magic are told with a skill that few, if any, imaginations produce. And
remember, the work began when she was a lass of eleven!
The Suncoast News
On the Tesch family’s computer is what members regard as inspired writing.
Its author, 14-year-old Gloria, is letting plot and characters mingle with imagination to make a novel. Out of respect for Gloria’s writing, no member of the family is allowed to read the pages until she gives her permission.
But those pages appear to be a central component of family life, the second book in a trilogy that has become a kind of family project. In the first phase, Gloria’s “Maradonia and the ....Seven.. ..Bridges....,” a large-print, self-published book totaling more than 800 pages, family members contributed ideas, art and exotic names while Gloria wrote.
The young author will have book signings later this month and in October at Pinellas and ..West Pasco.. locations.
Sitting at the family dining room table in her ....Palm.. ..Harbor.... home, Gloria is at first reserved, explaining as if by memory, “The book is a fight between good and evil.”
‘Big imagination’
Once past the theory behind the book, Gloria becomes animated. “I have a big imagination,” she says with a smile, eyes brightening. “With my imagination, I can write a hundred of these books.”
She entered the world of Maradonia, “a world between the worlds” of fantasy and reality made up of seven bridges of tests to overcome the power of darkness, when she was a sixth-grader. She finished the book in August of last year after she had completed seventh grade.
On her literary journey into the fantasy land, Gloria, now a freshman at ....Tarpon.. ..Springs.. ..High School...., encountered some of the pitfalls of the world of reality. She had writer’s block after she had written the first 150 pages. She longed to hang out with her friends at the mall. She almost gave up on the book, but her family encouraged her.
“We had a family conference,” she says, noting her brother Jonathan, now 12, contributed imaginative ideas to the plot.
Mom’s art
Gloria’s mom, Marina Terkulova Tesch, an illustrator and painter who was an art teacher in her native ....Russia...., contributed illustrations for the book’s cover and chapter beginnings. She also encouraged her daughter to include the things she loved in the book. As a result, doves spotted in the yard and crickets heard at night, as well as childhood favorites unicorns and mermaids, became characters.
Gloria’s father, Gerry Tesch, a seminar speaker to Christian ministries who holds a doctorate in theology, drew a map for her of the locations the main characters would visit. “If I was troubled, I looked at my map and discovered where the story should go,” Gloria remembers.
Gerry, a native of ..Germany.., contributed part of the book’s title by suggesting Maramon, a city in ....India.... that was the site of a conference he had attended. Gloria liked the sound of the first half of the city’s name and added, “donia,” the second half. “I wanted something that came over the lips of a person easily,” she explains.
As well, as coming up with plot ideas, brother Jonathan added another layer to the book. Joey, one of the two main characters, is based on Jonathan.
“He’s popular,” Gloria says, describing both Joey and her brother. “He acts before he thinks.”
Maya, the other main character is based, on Gloria herself. Maya is “a shy girl. She’s tall. She sticks out in a crowd.”
But for Gloria, Maya’s prototype, sticking out is no longer as uncomfortable as before. A poster of her book is now on the bulletin board of her language arts class, and some of her friends try to find themselves in the characters of the book.
“She’s opened up,” says mom Marina. “She’s a flower that has started blooming.” 