A graduating senior, who also happens to be a novelist, published his second novel earlier this month, titled “Drifting” continuing his “Empowerment” series.
Alex Rogers began writing in 2008 with a desire to share his insight and life experience with the world. The first novel, “I’m only Human After All,” as well as “Drifting” are based on Rogers early adolescent struggles with bullying, identity, confidence and self-esteem. Published by CreateSpace Independent Book Platform, “Drifing” was released April 2.
“I wrote the series for other kids who are going through the same thing in that age group,” said Rogers. “I want them to gain their own confidence and self-esteem. The novels are a source of inspiration for other people, like a beacon of light for people who are going through things.”
A direct sequel to the first novel, “Drifting” takes place after Rogers comes out of being bullied, and focuses on identity crisis.
“Drifting is mainly about how I got taken up by a more popular kid at school,” said Rogers. “I came to a choice where I had to decide if I wanted to keep going along a bad path with him or come into being my own person. It’s about how I came to be who I am today and how I gathered my self-esteem. I came out of the crowd to be my own person.”
The “Empowerment” series was written as a memoir with inspirational undertones.
“While the themes Alex is talking about are not by any means simple, the way he presents what he is trying to say is very simple and straightforward,” said Devan Hariford, a senior history major. “You can really feel him talking to you through the pages. I think almost anyone could read ‘Drifting’ and get something from it.”
The first two novels target the middle school and high school demographic. Most recently, Northumberland High School of Virginia featured “I’m Only Human After All” as the schools’ common read in an anti-bullying campaign.
“If the goal was to enlighten people on the issues of peer pressure and finding yourself, I believe that it did a fantastic job of achieving its goal,” stated Kara Barnes, a teacher at Otken Elementary in Mississippi, in a book review on goodreads.com. “The author did a wonderful job of making the story very relatable. It is easy to see how others can apply this story to their life.”
While Rogers’ originally intended to write a trilogy, he now considers lengthening the series to cover more recent years of college life.
“I’m keeping the third novel a secret, and I’m also thinking about turning it into a five-novel series,” said Rogers. “The third book will focus on the end of high school and the beginning of college. That novel will be more applicable to college students.”
While Rogers’ current success as a writer is apparent, the early days of writing were met with obstacles of disbelief.
“When I started this thing, I was 18 or 19 years old. I wanted to take the experience that I’d gained from life and make something of it. I had a lot of people who didn’t believe I could do it,” said Rogers. “But now, I’ve written two books, and I’m changing lives through them. I consider myself to be a visionary because people couldn’t see it done, but I made a path and walked through it.”
Both novels can be purchased on Amazon.com. For more information regarding the series, contact Rogers at [email protected].