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Teen Author Completes 800-Page Novel

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST

Gloria Tesch, 14, is at work on her second novel. Her mom, Marina, has already illustrated the cover.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: September 20, 2008

On the Tesch family's computer is what members regard as inspired writing.

Its author, 14-year-old Gloria, is letting plot and characters mingle with imagination to make a novel. Out of respect for Gloria's writing, no member of the family is allowed to read the pages until she gives her permission.

But those pages appear to be a central component of family life, the second book in a trilogy that has become a kind of family project. In the first phase, Gloria's "Maradonia and the Seven Bridges," a large-print, self-published book totaling more than 800 pages, family members contributed ideas, art and exotic names while Gloria wrote.

The young author will have book signings later this month and in October at Pinellas and West Pasco locations.

Sitting at the family dining room table in her Palm Harbor home, Gloria is at first reserved, explaining as if by memory, "The book is a fight between good and evil."

'Big imagination'

Once past the theory behind the book, Gloria becomes animated. "I have a big imagination," she says with a smile, eyes brightening. "With my imagination, I can write a hundred of these books."

She entered the world of Maradonia, "a world between the worlds" of fantasy and reality made up of seven bridges of tests to overcome the power of darkness, when she was a sixth-grader. She finished the book in August of last year after she had completed seventh grade.

On her literary journey into the fantasy land, Gloria, now a freshman at Tarpon Springs High School, encountered some of the pitfalls of the world of reality. She had writer's block after she had written the first 150 pages. She longed to hang out with her friends at the mall. She almost gave up on the book, but her family encouraged her.

"We had a family conference," she says, noting her brother Jonathan, now 12, contributed imaginative ideas to the plot.

Mom's art

Gloria's mom, Marina Terkulova Tesch, an illustrator and painter who was an art teacher in her native Russia, contributed illustrations for the book's cover and chapter beginnings. She also encouraged her daughter to include the things she loved in the book. As a result, doves spotted in the yard and crickets heard at night, as well as childhood favorites unicorns and mermaids, became characters.

Gloria's father, Gerry Tesch, a seminar speaker to Christian ministries who holds a doctorate in theology, drew a map for her of the locations the main characters would visit. "If I was troubled, I looked at my map and discovered where the story should go," Gloria remembers.

Gerry, a native of Germany, contributed part of the book's title by suggesting Maramon, a city in India that was the site of a conference he had attended. Gloria liked the sound of the first half of the city's name and added, "donia," the second half. "I wanted something that came over the lips of a person easily," she explains.

As well, as coming up with plot ideas, brother Jonathan added another layer to the book. Joey, one of the two main characters, is based on Jonathan.

"He's popular," Gloria says, describing both Joey and her brother. "He acts before he thinks."

Maya, the other main character is based, on Gloria herself. Maya is "a shy girl. She's tall. She sticks out in a crowd."

But for Gloria, Maya's prototype, sticking out is no longer as uncomfortable as before. A poster of her book is now on the bulletin board of her language arts class, and some of her friends try to find themselves in the characters of the book.

"She's opened up," says mom Marina. "She's a flower that has started blooming."

For more information on the book go to its href=http://www.maradonia.com> Web site.

Gloria's book signings will be held:

•11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27, New Port Richey Library, 5939 Main St., New Port Richey.

•11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4, at Books-A-Million, 9570 U.S. 19, Port Richey.

•1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18, Tarpon Springs Library, 138 E. Lemon St., Tarpon Springs.

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