On March 20, the Creative Writing students were given the opportunity to go on a field trip to Porter Ridge High School to see author Scott Reintgen speak about his novels. He talked about his work, asked trivia questions for merchandise, and allowed students to ask him any questions about his life and his writing. 

Reintgen, a former English teacher, is a father of three children and two dogs. On the field trip, he discussed where he found his inspiration. He is primarily a Science Fiction and Fantasy writer, being most known for the Nyxia trilogy. This is a Science Fiction novel series about a competition for teens to win a life changing amount of money in space. He has also written the Ashlords duology, which is a fantasy novel series where phoenix horses race in a multi-day event that often ends in bloodshed and broken bones. 

His newest novel, A Door in the Dark, deals with a group of wizardry students who are stranded in the wilderness after a spell goes awry. When they arrive in the wilderness, one of them is dead. The novel centers around the students trying to get home and trying to find out what happened to the one they lost. This is a brand new novel released on March 28, and after hearing him speak about it, it may be his best yet. 

Reintgen also gave students an opportunity to participate in a quick competition. The prizes were shiny, golden bookplates that he had signed. Bookplates are stickers that show ownership of books. He asked questions about popular culture when he was a student and teacher. Two students from Piedmont, one being myself, won a bookplate. He gave out a total of seven bookplates to students at the author visit. 

During the open forum section of the visit, Reintgen answered any question that students threw at him. He did a great job of giving open and honest answers to questions that were often personal, and students felt like they were being heard. He also provided tips for student writers, which we found very valuable. Afterwards, Reintgen stayed in the auditorium so students could ask more questions and receive his autograph.

Overall, this was a short field trip, but a valuable experience. Students who aspire to be writers themselves were given the chance to talk to someone in the industry, and that is something that doesn’t happen very often. Hopefully, more events like this will take place in the future so that students are exposed to more influential authors.