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Student novelist surprises Appalachian community |
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Thursday, 11 January 2007 |
by AUBREY RESECH
News Reporter
Many students find balancing schoolwork, a job and a social life is enough of a challenge, but for junior student author Richard T. Meeks, his real challenge did not arrive until he began writing his first novel.
Meeks’ first novel, published by Xlibris, a self-publishing company, is called “Maverick: The Angel Chronicles.”
Meeks found inspiration to write the novel through coming up with quotes, at any time, just walking around.
“What if I tell you that I can make all of your dreams come true, I can
make all the troubles in your life vanish, and I can make what was once
only thought of as fantasy into reality? All you have to do is believe
in the impossible. Would you believe?”
It was from this one quote devised by Meeks that the entire novel stemmed, he said.
“Maverick: The Angel Chronicles” begins with a fallen angel, sent by
God, to save the world from the rebels whom God had cast down after the
great battle of Heaven. However, during the angel’s fall from heaven,
he lost all his memories, including who he is and what he was sent to
do. Cornelius and the angel team, in a race against time, try to save
the world from the rebels who threaten to destroy it.
“I’ve always had a fascination with angels since about the eighth grade or so,” Meeks said.
“I get a lot of grit from middle-aged people. They think that because I
am not as old as they are, that I’m not smart or something,” Meeks
said.
During the writing process, Meeks had a small support system that consisted of his family and a few friends.
His parents were some of his greatest supporters.
“He has a lot of determination,” Kim Meeks, Richard’s mother, said.
“When you do something you love it becomes a passion, and Rick has a
passion for writing.”
Meeks is a founding father and member of the Alpha Sigma Phi
Fraternity. He also holds a job at the Appalachian State University
bookstore.
“It was really hard to juggle writing and getting work done,” Meeks
said. “There were times when I would sit down for months and not even
think about [the book].”
Jeffrey T. Rasmussen, a junior history, secondary education major, was
Meeks’ roommate last year and got to see the whole process unfold.
“I was really excited to meet someone so young who had accomplished so
much,” Rasmussen said. “Rick is a natural storyteller because he has a
way with words that can make anything interesting.”
Meeks is currently writing a sequel to “Maverick: The Angel Chronicles” and will title it, “Hero: The Angel Chronicles.”
Meeks plans to make writing a career. He hopes to prove to all the people who said he couldn’t do it that he can, and will.
“I hope that after reading [the book], people get a better sense of
what’s right and that there are times when you need to take a stand,
even if it’s not an easy choice,” Meeks said. “I’m still learning the
last one.”
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