Owings Boy Turns Love For Writing Into a Book

Alexander Hood's mother laid down the law: TV and video games would be limited. He and his two brothers would need to fill their spare time creatively.

So last month, about seven months later, Alexander published a book, "Alexander the Salamander and the Challenge." It just so happens to be about a boy and his two brothers, who must spend part of their summer with limited access to TV and video games.

Alexander, 9, of Owings, said his love for writing "started around kindergarten. I just wrote down things in my notebook, and it went from there."

He wrote while he waited for his bus to take him home from school. He jotted down ideas here and there. He kept it up and decided he wanted to write a book.

It took some persuading from his mother, Courtney Hood, before his father, Andre Hood Sr., agreed to work on the project with him.

"He wants to write a book. How often does that happen?" Courtney Hood said. She said she thought it would be a great father-son bonding project that would produce some papers stapled together.

Alexander had written down themes, portions of several story lines and day-to-day interactions he had with his two brothers, Andre Hood II, 11, and Austin Hood, 8.

"Alex had a ton of ideas," his father said. "At first, he had so many ideas it was like, 'How do we get all these in one book?' "

The two discussed which ideas to include and which ones to save for the next book. Alexander would write each morning, and his father entered his work into their computer and edited it for grammar.

Then Andre Hood Sr. would give Alexander the typed version, and Alexander would edit what his father tried to correct. He was writing so much each morning that a sore bump grew where his pencil rested against his finger.

Alexander's older brother, Andre, suggested creating characters out of people they came into contact with, such as their neighbors. Alexander's younger brother pulled out his sketchbook and suggested a few ideas.

"It was mostly Alex, then we started adding to it," Austin said.

Once the story was complete, Austin wanted to know whether it would be in the library at their school, Sunderland Elementary. Their father decided to teach the boys about publishing a book and found an online self-publishing Web site.

The brothers had entrepreneurial experience -- they ran a lemonade stand at their previous house in Upper Marlboro -- so Andre Hood Sr. said that he knew the marketing and sales of the book "would pique everyone's interest."

Austin became interested in how the book would be marketed and getting the cover art to accurately depict him and his brothers. Andre focused on sales and came up with deals for buying more than one copy.

At their first event, the Baltimore Book Festival last weekend, they lured buyers with candy and elaborate displays. The boys gave their best sales pitches. Nearly 70 books were sold on the spot.

"It is an enjoyable book for kids to read, but it can be a conversational tool for parents," Courtney Hood said. "We can teach our kids early in life to look at the challenges in life . . . to create life skills."

Alexander said he was not sure when he would start working on the next topic in his book of ideas.

Andre, who attends Northern Middle School in Owings, said he is thinking about writing a book of poetry "with all different kinds of poems in it."

Austin said he plans to tell the story of how the family rescued their dog, Gracie, from the pound at Christmastime.

"Most writers are 17 or an adult or close to an adult, and I'm only 9 years old," Alexander said. "And I wrote a book, and it was published. It kind of feels like I've won an award or have done something no one else has done, but I don't want to brag about it."

"Alexander the Salamander and the Challenge," by P.F. McKinley, a pen name that combines family members' names, will be featured Saturday at the Capital BookFest in Largo at the Boulevard at Capital Centre. For more information, visit www.alexanderthesalamander.net.