West Ouachita senior to publish her first book, “Detective Clover and the Mystery of the Manor.”

West Monroe, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Most students spend their high school careers hanging with friends or working on their academic goals, but a senior from West Ouachita High School achieves a life long dream by becoming an author.

Ad Arnold, a senior from West Ouachita High School began writing her fictional narrative, “Detective Clover and the Mystery of the Manor,” at the beginning of her sophomore year. She initially started writing due to boredom and used it as a way to escape the crises of the pandemic. “You know after Covid and everything happened, everyone, you come back and I did virtual for a whole year and I came back to school. I also moved before all of that happened. So, I came to school and no one knew who I was and I didn’t know anyone. I hadn’t talked to people, real people in, like a year. So, I didn’t know how to talk to anyone.”

She became passionate and was inspired by many things such as music, magic, famous authors, and the renaissance era. “Edgar Allen Po, he did this thing where he invented detective stories pretty much. He did the rules of the game, meaning that whenever people read detective stories, they’ll be able to solve the mystery themselves just by reading it and I was so inspired by that.” Arnold personally designed the cover and her website as well as wrote and edited her own story. The young author says that each character reflects a small piece of her and that her love for writing, “It just makes me so happy. I love it so much and I hope I will really be able to write more in the future.”

She hopes readers will like her book and hope they will be able connect with the characters. Arnold says her book would not be possible if it was not for her parent’s and teacher’s words of encouragement. One day, Arnold wants to be a famous author and hopes to repay her gratitude to her parents. The, “Detective Clover and the Mystery of the Manor,” is self-published and is scheduled to publish on Arnold’s birthday, which is on August 8th of 2024. It will also be published on her website as well as be available to purchase on Amazon.