Ninth-grade student Kyle Chatelain was excited to meet one of his favorite authors and get his autograph. He talked to him about his favorite character, Pigeon, from “The Candy Shop War” and how he always had the funniest storyline.

Teen and young adult author Brandon Mull had just wrapped up his second presentation at Riverview Junior High, one of many he had given across Murray School District. He also was scheduled to give a public presentation in the evening and sign additional books for the community.

“I loved his presentation,” Kyle said. “To meet one of your favorite authors and to have him come to your school and talk about his books to a bunch of people who love his books, it’s just really cool. I never thought I would get to meet him.”

Mull had just released his latest books, “The Candy Shop War: Carnival Quest,” the third in the series, as well as the “The Official Fablehaven Cookbook” with Cherie Mull. In the cookbook, Mull wrote an original story and wrote origin stories for each of the recipes, which were created by his sister-in-law, who is a professional baker.

“I’ve read the entire ‘Candy Shop’ series. I’ve read a few of ‘Fablehaven’ books. I have the ‘Dragon Slayer’ here. I’ve read all ‘Beyonders.’ I haven’t read ‘Five Kingdoms’ series yet,” he said. “I’m planning to buy all of them to put on a little bookshelf I have in my closet.”

Mull, who says, “writing is a hermit job so coming out and do these presentations, and interacting with other people, helps me stay connected to life,” said he has the goals of “getting reluctant readers to crack the book open” and “trying to plant seeds that will hopefully help people build their imaginations.”

To do that, he asked three students to come to stage and describe a scene—what it looked like, when it was, the smell in the air.

“All of a sudden now everybody in this room can talk to me about what that world looks like and what it smells like, because we came up with some details and descriptions,” he told the students. “This is my job as a writer. I’m trying to give readers the right details and descriptions that will help things come to life in their imaginations as they do that. I’m a huge believer that your imagination can take you places, but sometimes it may not be real places.”

Mull told students it’s important to create a strong imagination.

“Every time you create something, it makes your imagination stronger. When you get really good at your creative hobby, then it could become part of your job. That’s what happened with me in writing. When you read and create a little bit every day over time, it makes you have a rich inner life, makes us think more deeply and it helps you be creative in future jobs,” he said.

Mull said sometimes, readers can relate and empathize with the story’s characters.

“We can feel how that character is feeling and understand what that character is experiencing. In that way, a book can be like a mirror and we can learn and relate to other people’s experiences. It can also be like a window into experiences that you might not be able to have. For example, if you wanted to know what it would be like to fight World War II, it’s hard to do that in real life. But you might be able to find a book that could give you that experience,” he said.

Through his imagination, Mull has been able to create stories that now are taking him to real places from Alaska and Moscow to Indonesia and Singapore. 

“‘Fablehaven’ has been translated into more than 30 different languages and it has ended up reaching millions of readers. It taught me that you never really know what’s going to happen with the stuff that you want to share. So if you ever create something, share it; that’s how you find out if other people will be interested. For me, it let me turn writing into my job. I make my living from my imagination,” he said. “The best part of it for me is sharing the stories.”

However, it wasn’t easy. He said while growing up “I had these stories in my head and I had no way to share them. It was very frustrating.” Mull learned that it wasn’t so much his imagination that was holding him back, but his writing.

“The problem was learning to communicate what I was seeing in my head with words. I needed to improve my writing skills to communicate. When I started paying attention to how my favorite authors told their stories, I noticed that novels tend to be built one scene at a time, word by word. I started writing my own scenes and over time, I got better at communicating the stories I can see in my head. When you rewrite, you will look a little smarter than you really are. For me, I write my books 10 to 20 times looking for better ways to describe things, write better jokes, just trying to make it better in every way I can,” he said. “I failed to get published for a lot of years, but at age 30, I finally got my first book published. Something that didn’t seem possible finally became possible.”

Mull’s first published series, “Fablehaven,” is a five-book series. He has 29 published works, including the five-book series, “Dragonwatch;” three-book series “Beyonders;” and five-book series, “Five Kingdoms.” He also is working on a new series, with Penguin Random House that will come out this fall or spring of 2025.

Mull’s presentation was personable, showing photos of what he liked to do as a kid from dressing up for Halloween to feeding his little brother. He talked about hurrying to make it to the school bus only to have too much momentum and belly flopping down a flight of stairs. He showed photos of his family, and the family dog, and talking about an unexpected divorce and how he began to heal and find happiness in a new marriage.

“Something I have learned as a writer is that all of my experiences, even embarrassing ones, can come in handy when it’s time to write a book. Good writers are always looking for details we can use to kind of bring our stories to life. I’m always in observer mode. I’m always paying attention to people because I never know where I’m going to be inspired by something,” he said.

Mull answered students’ questions about book characters, different series, other authors who inspired him, and even what it meant to become a New York Times bestselling author.

“In practical terms, it means I get to live in a house. As an author, it’s kind of hard to make a living. I get paid about $2 when I sell a hardcover book. My share of the softcover books about 50 cents. If I don’t sell a book, then I can’t make it a job. I’ve been fortunate my books have sold really well the last 20 years so I’ve been able to provide for my family by writing crazy stories,” he said.

Mull left students with four keys to becoming an author. 

“No. 1, pay attention to our experiences. We might see some around you that you can use,” he said. “No. 2, good writers exercise our imaginations by creating stories. The more you write the better you’ll get at it. You got to spend some time doing it. The thing I liked about writing in my free time when I was younger, was that I could write about whatever I wanted. I didn’t have to just write some essay for school. I could write scary stories or funny stories or action scenes.”

He said that while reading, pay attention to how the author tells the story.

“No. 3, good writers read a lot so they can learn how to tell their own stories. That is lifelong; I still read so that I can improve as a writer. And No. 4, when you write stories down, share them with someone you trust. The reactions that you get from other people can help you find things to improve. When you guys sometimes get corrections on papers, be grateful. For every single book I write, I’m grateful that I get to rewrite the story and to tell the story in the best way possible.”

Viewmont Elementary librarian Emilee Barnett, who arranged the visit with Shadow Mountain Publishing, said that she hopes Mull inspired students.

“He encouraged them to write and use their creative minds a little bit every day,” she said. “He urged them to read and do whatever they have a passion for—art, sports, dance—and if they practice it, they can fulfill things they never thought they could do. He said that then, they will have more fulfilling lives and their minds will be more able to grasp other things that can lead them to more rounded lives. That’s pretty inspiring.” λ