Author's adventure

Imari Douthit was having one of those nights.
There was just nothing to do.
But there was a binder full of notebook paper. So she made use of it.
Douthit started writing, her imagination pouring out as pencil met page. It became a habit and, eventually, boredom begat a book.
The 10-year-old, whose mom is a Portland native, published “Be Calm Be Brave Don’t Be Afraid” last month, and on Saturday visited Jay County Public Library for a signing.
After reading the first chapter of her 62-page chapter book, which chronicles the adventures of sibling duo Ally and Max, to those in attendance, Imari explained her process.
“When I think of something, I think about writing,” she said. “That’s the only thing that pops to the top of my mind. And I feel like expressing myself. So whenever I feel like expressing myself, I go to the book and start writing.”
Imari didn’t set out to create a book. And her process didn’t have a schedule.
She just wrote when the mood struck her.
“I didn’t exactly do it every single day,” she said of the process that took about four months. “It’s just at some point when I got bored and there was nothing to do, I would just start writing.”
Often, it occurred at night.
Imari kept her binder full of paper next to her bed. And instead of going to sleep, she would use a “bright light” her sister had received for her birthday to continue writing the story.
So maybe it should be no surprise that her book also involves some sneaking around.
“After slipping on her clothes, she went to her door, peaked out and looked both directions down the hallway to make sure her parents weren’t awake,” reads a passage from the first chapter.
Like those in the book, Imari’s parents had no knowledge of her evening activities.
But eventually, she asked her mom, Cara (Shreeve) Douthit, to read her work. When Cara found time to do so, she was amazed.

“I was like, ‘I can not believe my child wrote this,’” said Cara, a 2001 Jay County High School graduate. “It blows me away. I didn’t like to read at her age, and so it shocked me …”
Like the writing itself, publishing was also not in the plans. Cara was only joking when she mentioned the idea on Facebook.
Much to her surprise, a woman from her church saw the post and approached her about publishing the book. Imari submitted the manuscript, it was accepted and “Be Calm Be Brave Don’t Be Afraid” was released March 28 through Got’cha Covered Publishing of Indianapolis.
Saturday’s signing at JCPL was the second such event for Imari, following her book release in Indianapolis.
“When I go around signing books it’s like another way of sharing with people how I feel,” said Imari, a fourth grader at Paul I. Miller School 114 on the southeast side of Indianapolis. “It’s a good thing to be an author … anything you write about … it’s yours.”
She remembers being excited to get kindergarten and learn how to read, and since then she’s become a fan of the “Magic Tree House” series by Mary Pope Osborne.
She especially likes the mystery/mission aspect of those stories, which inspired her to create the tale of siblings Ally and Max. They are tasked with saving their town in “Be Calm Be Brave Don’t Be Afraid,” which involves a mask that causes citizens to become possessed.
Imari puts scary elements into her writing because she enjoys the sensation of cliffhangers — wondering what will happen next and then the amazement of finding out. She’s already working on her second book, another Ally and Max adventure that will include zombies.
She hopes her work will encourage other children, not necessarily to be authors, but simply to follow their dreams, wherever they may lead them.
“I’m hoping to inspire other kids to do their own thing,” Imari said, noting that children should be proud of who they are and not try to be like anyone else. “If they’re inspired by something, then they should do it.”