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Bestselling author visits Woodward
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Best-selling childrens mystery book author Adam Sidwell, who is also credited for doing special effects for numerous Hollywood blockbusting movies, was the guest speaker last Friday at Woodward School thanks to program coordinator Michelle Crippen. - photo by VINCE REMBULAT

The author of a bestselling children’s mystery book entertained students at Woodward School.

Adam Sidwell was once upon a time behind the animation of blockbuster movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, King Kong, Pacific Rim, Transformer and Tron. On Friday, the “Maker of Monsters” – that’s what he calls himself – talked about writing.

“If you want to be a writer, do it right now,” said Sidwell, whose body of work includes the children’s adventure series, Evertaster.

A 1996 graduate of Beyer High in Modesto, he was in the area for a book-signing event to launch his third book Fetch at his hometown’s The Ice Cream Company. Sidwell now makes his home in Utah after spending time in Los Angeles during his days of working for the motion picture industry.

He’s also credited for doing visual effects for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Am Legend, and Thor.

He was at Woodward to share some of his writing experiences.

“What I see are blank pages that need 80,000 words,” said Sidwell, who, instead, focuses on writing 2,000 words per day for the next four months.

He recalled turning in his first writing assignment to his agent / editor. As it turned out, it was just a first draft.

Sidwell went through multiple rewrites before coming up with the finished product. “When I finally finished it made for a better story,” he said.

Woodward program coordinator Michelle Crippen caught Sidwell doing his informative yet entertaining presentation on the art of story not too long ago. She requested the service of the guest speaker at Woodward.

“It worked out since he had a scheduled visit to Modesto,” Crippen said.

Sidwell encouraged aspiring young writers to express their creativity doing blogs or using social media. “You’ll get feedback (on your writing),” he said.

As for writer’s block, Sidwell believes it’s best to just write no matter how silly. “It doesn’t matter how ridiculous – it will help get the mind flowing,” he noted.

Meanwhile, one of his books is on the verge of becoming a motion picture.

“Last week, I met with a producer on making Evertaster into a movie,” said Sidwell, who estimates that process to take up to four or five years.

Woodward students had a chance to purchase any of his three books – Evertaster, Evertaster: The Buttersmiths’ Gold, and Fetch.

Sidwell stayed around after the assembly to sign his books.

His work can also be viewed by logging on to www.evertaster.com or Adam Glendon Sidwell on Facebook.