The Haines Public Library hosted award winning children’s author Stuart Gibbs this week. Students from the Haines school were able to attend his presentation and learn what it takes to be an author.

Stuart Gibbs has become a staple in children’s literature over the past decade. Beginning in 2010 with Belly Up, a mystery story about the death of a hippo, the zoo’s mascot, the author has gone on to write six book series. They include the FunJungle series, the Moon Base Alpha series, and the Spy School series. Gibbs is the highest profile non-local author to be hosted at the Haines Library and looked forward to sharing his knowledge with the local kids.

“So I like to talk about, you know, where the ideas where my books came from. But also, you know, just how inspiration works for authors. In general, I think, you know, that there’s kids out there who want to write, and a lot of the time, they don’t recognize that, you know, an author doesn’t just start writing and just, you know, we don’t just sit at the computer and say, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna write this off the top of my head,’ we put a tremendous amount of thought into working those stories out beforehand. I think once kids realize that there really is like, oh, you know, like, if I can’t come up with something off the top of my head, that doesn’t mean I’m not fit to be a writer or something like that means no, I got to take some time and think my story through. So I think they find it interesting that maybe an author has been thinking about an idea for a year or two years or a decade before they say, ‘Okay, I know how to write this story’.” Gibbs said.

The idea to invite Gibbs to Haines came from children’s librarian Holly Davis, who learned about Gibbs from a young relative.

“My fourth grade nephew was here from Sitka, and he was reading Belly up by Stuart Gibbs. And I thought, huh, so that’s why fourth grade boys are liking these days. So I borrowed it. And I read it, and I loved it. And I bought the rest of the Fun Jungle series over the course of the year. So we have all of Stewart’s Fun Jungle books. It’s been a really long time since we’ve hosted a famous author…So I was very excited when I was able to reach out to his author appearance coordinator who agreed to ask him if he’d be willing to come to Alaska, and he told her yes, and she told me yes.” shared Davis.

Gibbs also shared his writing process to help young, would-be authors stay organized.

“Oh, you know, if I outline my story ahead of time, if I spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas, where you’re doing research and working and crafting that story, before I sit down to start writing it, that that, that seems like a lot of work upfront, but it probably saves a tremendous amount of work in the process of doing it.”

Gibbs’ visit to Alaska also coincides with his upcoming work set in a familiar place.

“I’ve got a couple books coming and one of the things I will talk to the kids today is that the next Spy School book actually does take place in Alaska. But there’s also some possibility that it doesn’t just have to be just that one or, or kind of created some things. So, you know, a lot of like, every little bit of this trip, could become some sort of research.”

According to Gibbs, coming to places like Haines and speaking to young readers is the most rewarding aspect of being an author.

“I did not know that actually going to schools or towns like this and talking to students was part of the job. I think most authors, right, for kids don’t recognize that when they first start writing. But the fact that you get to meet kids who are excited about reading, or maybe kids who aren’t excited, but maybe you get them excited about reading. That’s amazing.”

Gibbs’ new book set in Alaska, Spy School going North, is set to be released this October.