Youths always have active imaginations and stories they want to tell.
For Tucker Sypien, he’s bringing many of those stories to life, and they’re already in paperback and e-book for those willing to go on the ride. The 15-year-old Wittenberg native has already published multiple books, and he doesn’t plan on stopping there.
“I got into writing since I was 11 years old,” Sypien said. “My mom used to give me these little, empty, white books to write in. My first published book was when I was 12 years old. That one’s not for sale anymore, but since then, I’ve published five books that I have on Amazon.”
Sypien said he’s always had the urge to write and be creative. He said he’s always been the introverted one in school, so writing serves as his voice when he doesn’t want to speak his thoughts and dreams.
“Everybody has their own creative little aspect to that, and mine is just writing,” Sypien said. “That’s how I tell that information.”
The first novel Sypien wrote spoofed J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books, he said. He admitted his first effort was not the best, but it was enough to get him involved and “put my feet into the water.”
“Since then, I’ve just been getting better and better,” Sypien said.
After that, Sypien wrote “Collie,” where a robot awakens on an alien world with only a dog for a companion and no memory of how they arrived there. While on the journey, memory fragments reemerge, but they point to something horrible happening in the past.
“I’ve always loved dogs. I’m a dog person,” Sypien said. “There’s almost always a dog in the story, but I’ve branched out and started doing more things.”
Sypien’s latest novel that came out earlier this year is “The Flag Thief,” a dystopian tale where a different version of Capture the Flag is played. There are two families engaged in a gruesome war that started centuries ago, and one of the descendants, Adam Beluverin, discovers that each of the families holds a secret that could change the tide of the war.
“The Flag Thief” is part science fiction, part western; it’s a story Sypien had originally written years ago but since improved upon.
“I think it’s my best work yet,” he said. “There are two different parties battling between these two flags on a post-apocalyptic world. I think it’s an interesting take on playing Capture the Flag with my friends and brothers, and it just kind of transformed into a story.”
Sypien noted his youth might be a factor in why he hasn’t had tremendous sales on Amazon, where most books are written by adults. However, he’s not as worried about the profit margin as he is giving form to those stories in his head.
“Not many people think that books by 15-year-olds are going to be any good,” Sypien said. “It’s more something I do for me — putting the words out there and getting them out for people to read, if they want to.”
Sypien admitted it was difficult for him to bring himself about to publish novels initially, because of his age. However, the urge to share the stories won out.
“Part of me was saying, ‘People are going to judge you,’ but also there’s another part of me that says, ‘Who cares?’ Because it’s better to get a head start now, put it out there,” Sypien said. “If people read it or don’t read it, it doesn’t really matter. It’s more for me than for them.”
Sypien plans to keep writing in the sci-fi and horror genres for now, with his next book being a survival story involving a mining facility in space. However, there are plenty of ideas waiting to be unlocked, he said.
“I’m thinking all the time,” Sypien said. “I have, like, 50 projects, and eventually, one of them catches on. I just roll with it and write something.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
