At the age of 11, Anders Bruce translated the space adventures in his imagination into the battles between the Emperor Conquerors and the Galactic Government and the Galaxy Defenders via books that he's written.
In the vastness of space, empires keep forming to battle others in the never-ending struggle.
"They're all fighting each other. I thought about it as I was writing," he said.
Anders is pretty confident in his work, which has just been purchased by Fairfax County Public Library and is on sale at Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com and Borders.com. He also has links for his Web site, BruceNet.com\Anders, and has a book-signing scheduled on Nov. 23 at the Kingstowne Library.
"When I get a really good idea, I always remember them," Anders said.
His work is all done in his room surrounded by stuffed animals on his bunk bed.
"I write in my room," he said.
Inspiration doesn't come from paintings or artwork on the walls. His stuffed monkey, named "Oooh oooh Monkey," inspires him a little.
"It's one of the first ones I got," he said.
Anders is the oldest and has two brothers and one sister.
ALTHOUGH HE wrote the books on his own, creativity is in his genes. His mother wrote a book about childbirth and continues to have articles published, his grandfather is editor of Memphis Daily News, and his grandmother, Priscilla Morris, paints impressionistic landscapes in her hometown of Nashville. She is inspired by many things and had her most recent inspiration on the trip up from Tennessee.
"On the way here I stopped in Salem (Va.) and saw this old barn," she said, enthusiastically talking about the rustic nature of the barn, which she'd like to capture in a painting. She took a picture and will paint from it when she returns.
Anders is in the sixth grade at Springfield Estates Elementary School, where principal Susan Garrison inspires the students to read. Last year, she held a 20-foot python as a reward to the students for reading books.
"Last year, we had to write a story every month," he said.
Garrison noted their approach, which may have influenced Anders.
"Reading and writing are directly connected. We teach writing towards an audience. When you have an audience in mind, you have to get a point of view," she said.
In addition to the snake, Garrison's employed other techniques to promote reading, such as staying on the school roof all day or riding a horse on the playground.
GETTING PUBLISHED was a feat in itself. Anders went back and forth with the publishers, Writers Club Press, before finally getting his first book, "The Early Battles," published in August 2001. The agent initially contacted him through e-mail.
"I was pretty happy," he said.
Now Anders is into the sequel, "The Fight For Freedom," which should come out soon. He doesn't have movie plans or anything like that. Sixth-graders can only do so much.
"This book probably wouldn't be that good for a movie," he said.