Mable Caldwell published “The Dangers of Chemistry” at the age of 16.
by Bridget Weishaar
McLouth High School senior Mable Caldwell knew from a young age writing was a passion of hers.
“I loved the weekly journals in school. I would write the most crazy things. They may be hard to read, and all the d’s and b’s are backwards, but I still have them.” Mable said.
At the age of 15, and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caldwell began her journey of becoming a published author.
“During COVID, there were a lot of sleepless nights, and so I just started writing,” she said. This idea just kept sticking in my head. I just started typing. I had nights where I would wake up and type 500 words and I had nights I would sit down and type thousands.”
Her book, “The Dangers of Chemistry,” follows the main character, Aaron Cripple, on an unusual love story about a girl, Emma, who suddenly comes up missing.
Not long after Emma’s disappearance, Cripple learns of other high school students in the same situation.
Throughout the remainder of the book Cripple sets out to solve the riddle of the missing students while avoiding the lurking dangers that lay ahead.
When starting her book, Caldwell never actually dreamed it would be published.
“I finished the book and I was really proud of it,” she said. “It took me over a year to write it, so why not try to get it published?”
The first step in her process was looking for a literary agents. A literary agent is a person whose job is to sell your book to a publisher. They work to present manuscripts to potential publishers and help negotiate contracts.
After being told multiple times her book was too long, she turned to the internet in search of a publisher.
A Google search led her to Olympia Publishers. And although her mother’s only request was to stay within the country, she couldn’t refuse the offer from the London-based publishing company.
The process of getting the book published took longer for Caldwell than writing the 390 page novel.
Roughly a year and a half after submitting her manuscript, came the fine-tuning, amending, and final checks, “The Dangers of Chemistry” was released to the public April 27.
The book is available in paperback and can be purchased online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and BAM!.
Once graduation is over, Caldwell plans to focus locally with her community library to do a book signing or talk to kids during the summer reading program.
“I would love to share my book with everybody I can because I am so proud of it,” Caldwell stated.
Born in Florida, McLouth has been home to the Caldwell family since 2014. Mabel is the only child of Gabe and Jennifer Caldwell.
Along with writing, in her free time Caldwell has a packed high school schedule. She is involved in her school band, and jazz band, where she plays the trumpet, choir, FFA, art club, cheer, National Honor Society, Scholars Bowl, theater, and forensics.
After graduation, her plans are to study music education at Emporia State University.
Caldwell has another book up her sleeve, but with juggling the final days of high school, looking for a summer job, and preparing for college next fall, it is currently on the back burner.