Eleven-year-old Josie Campbell is the youngest published novelist Gil Mansergh has hosted on Word by Word; Conversations With Writers, and she was only in second grade when she began writing the story that eventually grew into her book called The Thunderinions: Evil’s Rise. Pronounced Thunder-in-Yons, these are the occasionally visible and often audible imaginary friends attached to Glory and her high school mates, Forest, Misty, Ray and Phoenix, as they grow up in Hawaii.
Josie is reflective when she talks about these characters. “High school kids are usually moody and depressed—but these guys aren’t. They have childish personalities and will hold on to being a kid as long as they can. I love these guys and would take a bullet for them. Glory is a lot like me…sarcastic and humorous, but my favorite character is Ray because he recklessly jumps into everything.”
(Photo: Josie Campbell, author – Courtesy of Catherine Campbell)
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