Students gained insight into the mind and inspiration of a writer, courtesy of Bethlehem author and librarian Josh Berk, during a presentation Feb. 25 at Northwestern Lehigh Middle School.

Berk told students his interest in writing started when he was “a young lover of books,” noting he was drawn to fantasy novels in middle school, particularly “The Chronicles of Narnia series.”

He added his parent’s careers as librarians created a conducive environment to become an author.

“My parents both had the same job. They were good parents for a kid to have, if that kid was going to grow up to be a writer,” Berk said. “That house growing up, full of books; can you imagine anything better than growing up in a house full of books? That was a pretty wonderful thing to do.”

Berk spoke about the different elements of a good piece of written work, whether a novel, essay or research paper, and what would stand out to an audience.

“If you’re a reader, what do you want to see?” he asked. “An attention grabber.”

With the assistance of several students, Berk conducted a reading, the opening scene of his baseball mystery novel “Say It Ain’t So” to illustrate the power of an exciting opening, noting that although the characters and plot are unknown, the excitement of the opening draws in readers’ attention.

Berk also described some of the difficulties faced by authors trying to publish their works, noting he was 34 when his first book was published.

“When I wrote my first manuscript and I sent it out to get published, guess what happened? I got rejected,” Berk told students.

Despite the rejections, he continued to write and emphasized how important perseverance was to become a published writer.

“This is the inspirational part of the story; what do I do after all those rejections,” he said.

“Did I give up, no! If I gave up, this wouldn’t be inspirational, I wouldn’t be standing here. I didn’t give up because this was my dream.”

He said that after his first book, “The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin,” was published in 2010, he seized the opportunity to continue writing.

“And then a publisher at that point asked me if I had a second book written, and I did not ... but I said ‘yes, I did,’” Berk said. “If they’re going to give me the chance to publish another book, I’m going to write another one.”

Berk then discussed his experiences of writing his next three books, speaking about how he wove experiences from his own life into his work, transformed himself and his real-life friends into characters and worked his loves for the mystery genre and baseball into his storytelling.

He also gave students an introductory teaser to his upcoming book, “Camp Murderface,” which is due to be published this year.

Throughout his presentation, Berk advised students on how to find inspiration for their own writing, saying that many writers find a balance between reading and real-life experience, and encouraged students to be adventurous and explore the world to find inspiration.

“The first thing that every writer does is read a lot, just read a lot of stories and absorb the ideas. I think that’s your first inspiration,” Berk said.

“Second to that is just all-around you; like I was saying, write stories from your real-life experience, the real people you meet, the good days and bad days, all from just the world around you.

“It’s a combination of loving books and reading many of them, and having the feeling of ‘hey, I can do that,’ and then just being out in the world.

“You can’t really write locked away from the world. You need to be out there … having the experiences, and then turn it into fiction.”

During the after-presentation question session, he was asked why he writes books for young adults and teens.

Berk said he liked being able to draw on familiar memories of middle and high school, but with a new, adult perspective.

“When I started writing I was in my 20s, and I feel like my school experiences were long enough ago that I had some perspective on it, but recent enough ago that I could remember it,” Berk said. “And now that I have my kids going through middle school and stuff, I like writing about what they’re going through and their friends, and writing based on that next generation and experience.”

After the presentation, a select group of students returned to the library for a writing workshop with Berk, where they collaborated to write the opening chapter for a mystery novel.

Attendees received tips on creating compelling characters and settings, brainstorming stories and utilizing figurative language.

“In mystery writing, you can really have fun playing with figurative language,” Berk said as students suggested similes and metaphors to describe their main character.

Additionally, middle schoolers created bookmark designs to represent Berk and his books in a school wide contest.

The top nine lucky designers enjoyed a pizza and cookie lunch with the author, and the top three designs will be printed as actual bookmarks.

Librarian Jillian Gasper said that author visits are a yearly event and noted that Berk’s presentation and workshop served as a timely and exciting kickoff to Read Across America week.

“Every year we try to get one,” Gasper said about inviting authors to the middle school. “I try to pick local authors; I prefer it because students grow up seeing them as relatable role models and learn to write and be inspired.”

“It’s always fun to see how creative young people are and how much love there is for the written work,” Berk said. “I feel inspired to be in their presence and their creative energy.”