Author wows elementary school students

By Rose Sgarlato
SPARTA — Once again, a best selling author came to town courtesy of Sparta Books. This time, on Oct.10, Sparta elementary schools welcomed Peter Lerangis who introduced his latest work, “Max Tilt.”
The author started as a ghost writer and has 175 titles published thus far. Lerangis is well known among the younger set for his series “Seven Wonders.”
Lerangis entertained third graders at Mohawk Avenue and fourth and fifth graders at Helen Morgan with an animated and funny presentation about being an author and the writing process. He believes there are five steps to successful writing:
“Step one is you fail, step two is you fail, step three is you fail, step four is you fail and then you don’t fail,” Lerangis told his fourth grade audience. “You succeed when you feel like your characters are changing your story and telling you what to do.”
Lerangis shared a story about his real life experience of being asked by the Obama administration to go to Russia on Air Force One to meet Putin. He then showed the students “The Incredible True-Life Story of a Writer,” a power point presentation starring the author and his alter ego.
After the presentation, Lerangis spoke with the Sparta Independent:
“This is fun for me, and the kids give it back. I try to keep it funny and interesting. There are always about five kids in the room who want to be writers and that’s neat that I can tell them my story.”
Doug Layman, principal of Helen Morgan was grateful for the inspiration from Lerangis:
"Mr. Lerangis' presentation was so well received by our students. They appreciated his keen sense of humor, enthusiasm and words of wisdom,” Layman said. “One veteran staff member told me it was the best author visit she has seen in 20 years. We were truly fortunate to host this inspiring author."
"Max Tilt: Fire the Depths” was released on Oct. 3 and is available at Sparta Books.