As summer vacation gets into full swing, most young people are thinking about summer jobs, athletic camps, and catching up on sleep.  For Wilson rising senior Zoe Belew, however, summer vacation means a brief break from completing her first novel before diving into book number two.  The idea for a novel began as the result of idle talk among Zoe’s friends about surviving apocalyptic scenarios.  Three years later, she has a completed, 444-page novel entitled Decimation which will be published and available on Amazon beginning Monday, June 2.  The book is about a young girl named Lailah who is chosen to fight the evil Lucifer in the impending apocalypse.  Belew says Decimation is the first book in the Chosen trilogy. Wilson principal Gary Horton says he is honored to have a published author walking his school’s halls. “Zoe is one of the most quiet and unassuming students I have ever known.  She does what she’s supposed to do when she’s supposed to do it and excels in everything she does.” Zoe is indeed busy doing and excelling, having won Wilson’s 2014 Shoals Scholar Dollar Student of the Year award, as well as marching as a majorette with Wilson’s Regiment of Blue marching band and taking college classes at UNA as part of the Early Scholar program.

The publication of her book represents years of hard work on Belew’s part.  She estimates she spent 18 months researching things such as meanings of names and the depiction of angels in different religions and another 18 months actually writing her novel.  A team of three to six friends and acquaintances acted as editors, offering suggestions on everything from grammatical construction to storyline development.  When asked how she finds the time to write, Belew says she always has a notebook with her.  Since she likes to hand-write her first drafts, Belew was able to jot down ideas as they came, knowing that later she would be able to take the time to fully develop these bursts of inspiration.  Keeping her notebook handy also helps her battle writer’s block.  “Just one sentence can turn into an entire chapter,” she says.  

Belew approached the publication of her novel with the same meticulous eye which she had used in the creation of it.  She began her research by contacting a number of authors, some of whom had taken the traditional publication route and some who had self-published their novels.  Next came the search for the right publishing company.  “I was leery at first because there are so many self-publishing companies.  I watched a lot of videos and talked to a lot of people before deciding that Amazon was the one for me,” says Belew.  Finding the right publisher was only the beginning.  Next Belew had to work on getting the format, as well as the actual book, just right before the Amazon would agree to work with her.  When asked how many edits and revisions she had to make, Belew acknowledges that the published version of her novel is the eighth draft.  “You never really stop editing; you just reach a point where you decide it’s as clean as it will get.”

What’s next for Belew?  She says she wants to take a short break from thinking about Decimation before beginning the actual writing of its followup Cataclysm.  Does publishing her novel make her rethink her career plans?  Maybe, she says.  Belew knows she will always be a writer, whether or not everything she writes actually gets published.  So for now, she plans on majoring in business, advertising, or marketing in college, all of which will no doubt aid her in her continued writing endeavors.   

When asked about marketing and promotion ideas for Decimation, Belew smiles shyly and says her dream is to have a booth at the August First Friday event in downtown Florence, where she can sign copies of her novel.  Considering her current success rate when it comes to achieving what she sets her mind to, you can expect to see her there!

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