While most freshmen are still trying to find their way through high school, Logan Odom already has a head start in that he is not only a student, but also a published author. Odom has written three different books, all available for purchase on Amazon. He also has his own YouTube channel where he produces content for his viewers. 

Odom started writing his first book at just the age of seven and is still working on it. He has been a writer for eight years and is continually moving forward with the success of his books. 

“I have always wanted to write a book, but I never finished writing a book I loved until I wrote ‘The Monkey Man,’” Odom said. 

Odom’s inspiration for writing a book was from the series “Goosebumps” by R.L. Stine because he always loved them and wanted to replicate something similar. This is part of the reason his major concepts throughout his books are “stranger danger,” as it relays back to many of Stine’s books. 

“The Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine are what originally got me into writing around eight years ago,” Odom said. “The first book I ever conceived was ‘Scare Scrape,’ and I am still working on it.”

Although writing may not be his dream job, Odom has been successful not just in his writing but also with his YouTube channel, which he uses to promote his own books and spread the knowledge of his books to others. 

“It is fun to talk about and promote content for my books,” Odom said. 

The books Odom has written and published so far are “The Monkey Man,” “The Monkey Man 2: The Great White Orangutan,” and “A Rumble in the Rafters.”

“‘The Monkey Man’ is a short story about a man, Kenny Hungur trying to save his son, Tucker Hungur from Bigfoot, or as Tucker describes it, The Monkey Man,” Odom said. “The Monkey Man is not a mindless predator, but formulates plans to try to get the kid to come to him. ‘A Rumble in the Rafters’ is a short story, although longer than The Monkey Man. It is about an intruder breaking into a highly secured home through a singular miniscule flaw in the security system. Two kids are home alone when they find out about the intruder, and they’re locked in with him. Finally, ‘The Monkey Man 2: The Great White Orangutan’ is a novel following Alan Malcolm as he spends a month in a cabin in the mountains of Colorado. Only, the locals have been telling strange stories, and factors of those stories are coming true. A deer is dragged up a tree, he can hear howls in the woods, and something outside.”

While becoming a published writer at such a young age may be fun, Odom still prioritizes school. He said he puts homework and studying first when he gets home, and then he writes.

“If I don’t prioritize school, then I might fail,” Odom said. “Fun isn’t worth failing. I do all my work first.”

According to Odom, as long as all of his work is done, the amount of time he spends writing outside of school is usually about one to three hours per day on weekdays, depending on how tired he is. He usually writes for about one to five hours on the weekends, depending on how much he wants to.

“I like to sit down at my computer in the mornings, maybe with a drink, and just write,” Odom said. “Usually I don’t write too much at once, but a lot in segments.  I’ll write a thousand words in one sitting, eat something, and write another thousand. If I write two thousand words a day in a month, I will finish an entire novel.”

Odom said his 300-page novel, “Carnassial,” should be releasing within the next two months. He also likes to give credit to freshman Brett Smith, who helps him edit his books. He is also proud of the fact that freshman Zachery Fisher will also be releasing a novella soon, which Odom has helped edit. Of all that he has accomplished so far, Odom said his greatest feat is actually publishing his book.

“‘The Monkey Man’ is nothing spectacular,” Odom said. “It’s short and not very impactful, but a lot of people have told me that most people wouldn’t have published it at all.”

This story was originally published on The Bear Facts on February 29, 2024.