As a student at Seymour High School, Destiny Amick jotted a children’s story down on paper.

Four years later, she decided it was time to get those words published.

“The Moose on My Roof” recently became available for purchase online, and it’s the 22-year-old’s first published work.

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“It had been laying around forever, and I kept thinking, ‘I really want to be a published author. I want do this, this and this,’” she said. “It’s like, ‘Well, just do it, just send it in.’”

Amick debated whether to do the traditional publishing route or do self-publishing.

“I thought traditional publishing sounded easier because it seemed like they did more work, but they wanted me to change the title, and I was like, ‘I like it the way it is,’” she said.

Through research, she found a publishing company called Xlibris that helped her through the self-publishing process.

“There was a lot that went into it that I didn’t realize,” she said. “There are different packages and stuff that you can choose from, and I just chose the really simple one because I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into yet.”

Xlibris offered to illustrate the book for Amick, but her mother, Amber Amick, already took care of that task.

“It went really quick because I had everything together, and they told me what all I needed,” she said. “They helped me get my copyright, and it was just really simple. I was kind of shocked.”

When she completes her next writing project, Amick said she wouldn’t mind trying traditional publishing.

“I feel like I’ve just skipped a major step,” she said. “It’s like getting a participation ribbon in a race, but it’s still nice. It’s here, and it’s done.”

Once she received copies of her first book, Amick said it was a memorable moment.

“I actually cried when I opened the package,” she said. “It was intense. I felt very accomplished, even though I said it was just like getting a participation ribbon in a race. It’s still big. That’s my name (on the book).”

Amick said she developed an interest in writing at an early age.

“I like to read a lot, and my mom always took me to the library,” she said. “That was a big, huge thing, and eventually, I realized there were names on the books, and I wanted to see my name on the shelf.”

When she wrote “The Moose on My Roof,” it came from personal experience.

“We have a couple of squirrels on our roof that sound like a herd of buffalo,” she said. “But I called it a moose because it rhymed better.”

The story is about a nearsighted woman who contemplates how a moose found himself on the roof of her house.

“She thinks it’s a moose,” Amick said. “She talks about his adventures, and then she realized it’s just a squirrel.”

Once she decided to publish her work, she had to figure out how to get it illustrated.

“I tried to draw it, and it didn’t go very well,” she said, laughing.

That’s when she turned to her mother’s drawing ability for the cover and pages.

“Like I have little poems all around the house, she’s got little scribbles all around the house, and they look beautiful, and I’m like, ‘I can’t do that,’” Amick said. “I wanted to draw it, and I’ve always tried to draw, so it was frustrating to watch her be able to do it, but it’s also really cool. I liked it.”

Several of Amick’s family members have read the book. Once school starts back up, she said she plans on going to some of the elementary schools and building some networks to share the book.

In the meantime, she’s working on some other writing projects.

“I have a couple of other children’s books, but I have a few novels in mind,” she said. “I would like to go for an older audience, like something that I would like to read.”

She’s on summer break from taking classes toward an early childhood education degree from Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus.

She said she wouldn’t mind making a career out of writing.

“I would like for this to be what I do,” she said. “I enjoy writing, but I don’t know. I’ll see.”

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Name: Destiny Amick

Age: 22

Hometown: Seymour

Residence: Seymour

Education: Seymour High School (2012); currently working toward an early-childhood education degree at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus

Family: Mother, Amber Amick

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Destiny Amick’s children’s book, “The Moose on My Roof,” is available for purchase online through amazon.com, xlibris.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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