Actor and author Chris Colfer’s writing journey began when he was a young boy. He would read fairy tales and daydream about having adventures with the characters to cope with his sister’s illness that resulted in her having up to 50 seizures an hour, he said in an interview with the Deseret News.
“I found that writing a novel is very hard at 8 years old,” said Colfer, who won a Golden Globe award for his work on the television show “Glee.”
Several of the short stories he wrote as a boy are incorporated into “An Author’s Odyssey,” (Little, Brown and Company, $19.99, ages 8-12), the fifth book in the Land of Stories series for middle grade readers. Several of the books in the series have topped best-seller lists. Colfer’s book tour stop in Utah this week will be his first visit to the state.
In the Land of Stories series, twins Alex and Connor Bailey fall into a world where fairy tales are real but the characters are a bit different from what they envisioned from the tales.
In “An Author’s Odyssey,” the twins are working to free all the royal families in the Land of Stories from the Masked Man, who has rallied the help of other storybook villains to help him in his quest to become emperor.
The twins enter Connor’s own short stories to recruit help from his characters to save the royal families.
“These are the stories that I actually wrote as a kid,” Colfer said of Connor’s short stories. “It’s fun to incorporate all of my stories that I wrote when I was younger.”
It’s also based on his work as a screenwriter on both the 2012 movie “Struck by Lightning” and an episode of “Glee.”
“It’s very rare that a writer can see their characters and environments come to life before his eyes,” Colfer said.
Of writing the series, Colfer said, “I see it almost as a movie trailer in my head,” then it’s “piecing those stories together with words” and adding some humor and entertainment.
“An Author’s Odyssey” is the fifth of six books in the series. The sixth book is scheduled to be released next summer, he said. He also wrote the picture book “The Curvy Tree,” and one titled “Trollbella Throws a Party” is in the works. “Queen Red Riding Hood’s Guide to Royalty” and “The Mother Goose Diaries” are previously released companion stories from the Land of Stories, and “The Land of Stories: A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales and Rhymes” is scheduled to be released later this year. Colfer is also planning to create a graphic novel about Goldilocks’ story.
Colfer picked illustrator Brandon Dorman to do the covers and other illustrations for the books. Dorman has worked on covers for R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series and Tyler Whitesides’ Janitors series.
“I loved his artwork so much,” Colfer said.
Colfer said he sketches what he would like the cover to look like and sends it to Dorman, who then “makes it gorgeous.”
“Every time a new cover comes out, he blows me away,” Colfer said. “He’s so incredibly talented.”
Colfer did some of the illustrative handwriting and other drawings in Connor’s writing portfolio in “An Author’s Odyssey.”
“It’s a book about a writer who gets to meet the characters he created and explore the environment that existed only in his imagination,” Colfer said. “I really hope it inspires a lot kids to not only read, but to write their own stories, too. We can never have enough stories in our world.”
If you go …
What: Chris Colfer book signing
When: Thursday, July 21, 7 p.m.
Where: Viridian Event Center, 8030 S. 1825 West, West Jordan
Web: kingsenglish.com, thelandofstories.com
Note: This is a ticketed event. Two general seating tickets are included with the purchase of the book from The King's English Bookshop.
Email: rappleye@deseretnews.com Twitter: CTRappleye