From a published journalist to a published author, senior Caitlyn Bogart reached her goal of getting her book, A Common Language published.

A Common Language is a fiction novel Bogart began writing in ninth grade that follows the lives of seven students from all over the world as they attend an elite music school in the U.K. They all have to face the difficulties of everyday life and their past, to meet their future. Because of the language barrier there is a healthy amount of shenanigans and drama. These students struggle from the pressures of their academic, family and social lives as they move forward into their young adulthood. The story’s main focus is around the incoming freshman, American Kalli Hardford and Frenchman Percival Delano. The other characters are from Spain, Romania, Japan and twins from Russia.

Bogart decided she was finally ready to upload her book to Smashwords and from there it got approved to be sent to iTunes, Nook, Kobo and Sony. She also uploaded to Kindle store which she had to submit separately.

“Honestly, I just had this moment of euphoria,” Bogart said. “I didn’t believe it actually happened. It was a long process and when I finally hit that ‘upload’ button I still felt like I wasn’t done.”

Throughout her high school career, Bogart had started and finished A Common Language.

“A lot of people ask me how long it took to write the book and that is a bit of a complicated question,” Bogart said. ”I started working in spirals during the spring semester of my freshman year, just kind of playing with the characters and figuring out where the story would go. From there, I typed the five spirals of my chicken scratch into a word document. I had it all typed up and I really started hashing out the editing this past summer. So four years off and on.”

Even if it’s never a best seller, Bogart still benefits from this experience in ways that will help her later in her career.

“The entire experience has been so rewarding,” Bogart said.  “I’m getting some great feedback. I worried when I first started out that I would ruin my passion by making my hobby too much like work. The entire process has been such a joy and it makes me want to write even more.”

Since this is only the beginning of her career, Bogart plans to continue her writing.

“I still have a lot more to do and my career has only just begun,” Bogart said. “I’m excited to see where my characters take me and what stories unfold.”

If interested in finding more about this author or her writing, check out these links.

Twitter: @Caitlyn_Bogart

Blog: http://caitlynbogart.wordpress.com

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/290383

To view the Smashwords file on the computer rather than an e-reading device, download Adobe Digital Editions:  http://www.adobe.com/products/digital-editions.html

A Common Language is available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony and iBooks with Apple.