“My friend, Mary, who was one of the first readers of their books, said, ‘Their absolute grasp of language for kids that don’t talk that much outside of the house and their ability to write action – which is really hard to write – is just amazing,’” Carol said. “They both have that talent, even though it sort of goes against their physical being. Even if you ran into them in the grocery store, they wouldn’t say hi to you.”
Mimi wrote a collection of eight short stories, “Barney and Mr. Thomas,” for tweens. She calls it science fiction with “plenty of action.”
“I’ve always thought of mine like a TV show, because it’s the same characters but it’s in stories,” Mimi said. “I’ve always preferred TV over movies, so I thought maybe some other people would feel that way.”
“I like the idea for the middle school grades where you have the continuous characters through different books,” Carol said. “A lot of kids at that point can’t sit still, don’t want to sit still, don’t want to read and can get through a shorter book.”
The story follows an adult inventor, Mr. Thomas, and his 11-year-old assistant, Barney.
“They go out on all these adventures,” Mimi said. “The assistant, when he gets too emotional, he turns into an alligator creature.”
While in her own life, because of her selective mutism, Mimi doesn’t sustain a large number of relationships with new people – the relationship between Barney and Mr. Thomas is her favorite aspect of the collection.
Hannah recently finished the 250-page urban fantasy novel for teens, “The Door in My Hand.”
“It’s about this famous daredevil who finds that she has a door growing in her hand with monsters that come out of the door and she must help to stop it, but no one believes they’re evil,” Hannah said. “They all think they’re good.”
Hannah likes how her novel can’t be categorized into one genre.
“It feels like it combines fantasy, horror, urban fantasy and sci-fi all into one,” Hannah said....
What Hannah and Mimi can’t say, they can write. Their passion for writing allows them to express themselves without having to interact, Hannah said.
“They are the most imaginative young ladies you would want to meet,” Carol said.