Writer targets at-risk kids I FRYE from page 9 He went to Havelock businesses and asked for donations, and he put enough money together to pay for a press run. But the day before he print ed, he said he freaked out “I thought, ‘Oh, man. What if I can’t pay these people back?”’ But his fears were unfounded - he sold enough copies at Lincoln school libraries to reimburse his investors. . And though the subjects of Frye’s books have expanded beyond at-risk youths, his methods of publishing remained the same for his next few novels, despite the intense effort he says it requires. “I write, edit, typeset and raise the money. Selling them is hard to do,” Frye said. “None of these books have been marketed properly.” In Frye’s remaining books, his audience expanded from at-risk youths to both younger children and adults. “Squeaker The Adventures of a Country Mouse” tells of a mouse’s escapades during a flash flood. And “Jason the Fear-Slayer” and “The Jewel Folk” are both fantasy books with wizards, elves and dwarves. For his next novel, “Stag-Heart Woods, Frye decided to publish with help from Dageforde Publishing, the company that recently published Dorcas Cavatt’s book (proud step mother of famous Dick). He said the company does excel lent marketing work, which could turn around the usual situation of selling only a thousand copies of a book. And he has plans for a trilogy and a five-book series both based on an ear lier novel. He said series books make more sense to him than compiling a lot into one novel. It’s more reader-friend ly, something that is important when his main audience is children. “I don’t want to write a book that’s that thick, because kids won’t read it” Frye looks forward to a time when he will be able to publish without hav ing to worry about where the money is coming from - when he can be a fiill time writer without having to work jobs on the side. But, the nine-time foster parent said, that doesn’t mean his commit ment to helping children will stop. It will just change the way he does it Instead of working with probation officers and teachers to keep adoles cents on track, he can teach through his tales of troubled children finding their ways through difficult times. lHH Sunsational /if Ttmj*HM/j 11th & Comhusker Hwy. •••if1 Iflf^SUltyv Belmont Plaza * _477-9998 &*HynatutaU