Two WTAMU students have gone beyond the academic walls of WT to venture out into the world of published books.  Hunter Fithen, a sophomore Mass Communication major, and Alex Gonzalez, a sophomore English Education major, have researched, written and published their own books, which are both out on the market to buy.

Fithen’s book 102 Memorable and Manly Ways to Ask a Lady to Prom, takes the reader on a comedic quest to discover the most creative and manly ways to ask a girl to the big dance.

“One of the first things I told myself was that while I knew the book was going to have a really goofy, lighthearted tone to it, I wanted to make sure that most of the ideas could actually be used,” Fithen said.

Fithen said there are a few unrealistic ways that made it through, but the majority of the book can really be used to ask a lady to prom.

“The inspiration came to me when I was working on my senior project in high school,” Fithen said. “You basically have to research a type of career field, and by the end…you have to have made a final product [and] present to some judges.”

After the project was done, Fithen said he decided to send it out to some publishers.

“I didn’t really think much of it, but long story short, the book ended up being published by Amazon on their fancy Kindle device,” he said. “It took a little more work to get it all officially edited for the Kindle but … the time and the effort was worth it.”

Fithen said the whole concept of “prom” can be swapped with “college formal” or other school social functions.

“I’d like to add that while the book focuses on how to ask girls to prom, it doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the only event you can use it for,” Fithen said.

Fithen said his book has been met with some decent success and has been working with Amazon to be able to sell a print edition of the book.

“My fellow college gentlemen should know that I’ve got to pay for school too, and I think that we could both benefit if they bought themselves a copy,” he said.

Gonzalez’s book, Wild Prep: Crazy Beautiful Life, is the story of young teens and their journey through the wild world of broken hearts, ugly truths and everything that is the Miami social life.

“I started Wild Prep: Crazy Beautiful Life my sophomore year and finished it that summer,” Gonzalez said. “It took around eight months to revise, edit and find a publisher … and by December it was published.”

Gonzalez said he has always loved writing, and he will probably be writing for the rest of his life.

“The inspiration of writing comes from just making new worlds, and building characters and watching them grow,” he said.

However, Gonzalez said that one of the most difficult challenges for him had to be the criticism for his book.

“When you write something you’ve worked so hard for, it’s really difficult to put it all out there for people to love or hate,” he said.

Both students gave credit to everyone who supported them the entire time they worked on their books.

“Their support was really why I ended up working so hard on the book, and I believe that the time and effort I spent was well worth it,” Fithen said.

“My parents have always put a lot into what I wanted,” Gonzalez said. “They invested a lot into my book regardless if it was a best seller or not.”

102 Memorable and Manly Ways to Ask a Lady to Prom and Wild Prep: Crazy Beautiful Life can both be found on Amazon.com.