Don’t Wake Him Too Early
First-grade dreams provide plot for fifth grader’s fantasy novel series
When first-grader William Phillips started talking about a dream he’d had, his mother thought it would be a short conversation.
But 40,000 words and four years later, William has turned the dream’s plot into a book series whose first volume ranked in the top 20 in a book series whose first volume landed on some Amazon.com best-seller lists. William, who just finished fifth grade, published a second volume in The Magic Island Chronicles in May, and he is working on a third.
“He has a very vivid imagination, and it’s always interesting to hear,” William’s mother, Elizabeth, said. “But when he kept saying, ‘No, type it out. I want you to write this out,’ and kept pushing for that, and we sat down and finally did it, I realized, wow, he’s really got a gift.”
William started by dictating his story to his father, but that didn’t work out because his dad couldn’t write quickly enough. (“He has a weird combination of cursive and print,” William said, “which I’m inheriting, which is bad.”) So, William moved on to his mother.
William wanted to share his story with friends at Providence Christian School, so his mom took his manuscript to FedEx and made about 10 copies. Those went fast. She printed more, which quickly disappeared as well. Readers started asking William about what would happen next.
In fourth grade, William decided to get serious about having his book published. His mom contacted Janis Dworkis, a book development professional she’d heard of through the Park Cities Facebook group.
Dworkis helped William revise his books, which have seen multiple versions over the years. The first volume in the series, Magic Island, was released in the fall, and the second, Cloud Kingdom, came out in May.
While most of The Magic Island Chronicles plot came to William in his dream, he had to decide on the series’ conclusion himself since his dad woke him up before the dream ended. William can find other inspiration almost anywhere. (“Not couches,” he said. “You can’t get ideas from couches. Nobody can.”)
William has thought up details to add to his books while playing basketball, looking out the window on car trips, or thinking of “random words” and scrambling the letters. Naming rights to one character were sold at a charity auction, where naming a character in William’s book went for a higher price than the rights to a John Grisham character had the prior year.
William hopes to release the third book in his series, War Rages On, in the fall. Readers who want a sneak peek can check out a copy in Stephanie Johnson’s third-grade classroom at Providence where, William’s brother Brooks told him, “People have been fighting over them all year, trying to see what happens next.”
William said he might take a break from writing books after he finishes the series’ fourth installment, which could be released in 2025.
Long term, William aims to be president. For now, he enjoys building with Legos, shooting basketballs, and playing video games, “except I’m going to try to lay off on those since they fry your brain.”
What’s been his favorite part of the books’ success so far? “The popularity,” William said. “I’ve never been popular before, so I like that.”
WHAT’S NEXT? Keep up with new developments in the world of The Magic Island Chronicles by visiting magicpublishingco.com or following @magicislandchronicles on Instagram.
