Author
Dean Smith
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
- W. Somerset Maugham
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The trouble with young writers
is that they are all in their sixties.
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- W. Somerset Maugham
I write for the same reason I taught for over 35 years - to make a an impact on people's lives. If you want to know more about me, then talk to my characters because you'll find bits of me in all of them.
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When I was completing Old Friends & Other Strangers, Wendy Weller stepped out of the manuscript and chastised me. "You're doing it all wrong."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You've got the adults swooping in and saving the day. We can save ourselves, thank you very much." She said this with her arms crossed, challenging me to find another ending, which I did.
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I wasn't sure if I needed a shrink at that point because I was having a conversation with someone who doesn't really exist except in my head. So, I sought counsel from a group of professionals. I asked about this at a writers conference. "Does anyone else here talk to their characters?"
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The room filled with laughter - not at me - but because "Of course, we talk to our characters. They're the ones writing the stories."
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Pen Pals
They sleep in the back of my writer’s mind,
on bunk beds, no doubt,
so they can stay up and talk late into the night.
Sometimes I hear them
bumbling around in the dark,
fixing a cup of tea
or sipping a glass of wine.
They only exist in my imagination,
but they come out on lonely walks.
We chat, confusing my neighbors.
I ask what they’re up to
and what’s coming next.
They’re good people, most of them,
the kind you’d enjoy
spending time making plans
or sitting quietly at the creek
where I skip stones.
I wonder if they ever go fishing –
maybe with Tom and Huck.
YA Novels
Old Friends & Other Strangers
Wendy Weller, tall and gangly, must deal with a Down Syndrome student who literally attaches himself to her. Making matters worse, Danny is not afraid to share his opinion or show his affection, even to those who bully him. They encounter four strangers along the way who become a valued part of their journey. Their mismatched friendship redefines what it means to “fit in” as Wendy realizes prejudice comes in more shades than black and white. In the end, she learns there’s a place for everyone at the table, and we leave a big hole when we're no longer there.
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Under Revision
Bad Signs
Billy Murdock was a felon in training. He could smack a baseball better than any kid our age, and he was a threat on the mound. Not because he was a great pitcher. More because he had a tendency to play dodge ball with the batters. He walked guys by pegging them with his fastball which made them jumpy the next time they came to the plate. In short, he was trouble, or at least troubled, and he was on my team. But playing baseball was the least of my problems. It was all the other games I had to play that summer which didn't seem to have any rules. Just lessons you had to learn the hard way.
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Available through Amazon
BackStories
Wendy Weller never asked to stand out—being brainy, tall, and awkward was enough. But now she's forced into a spotlight she can’t avoid. When a class project ignites a small-town uproar and three unlikely classmates reveal the secrets that shape them, Wendy finds herself caught between silence and courage. To protect her friends—and herself—she must decide: blend in with the crowd, or rise above it and fight for what’s right.
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Available through Amazon
RockBridge
They were never meant to be friends until forced to fight for their own survival. Three outcasts find themselves at RockBridge, an Outward Bound school for guys learning to overcome the mistakes of their past. But tragedy leaves them stranded during a Wilderness Trek. With no map, no food, and no idea where they were, the boys must choose to work together or die trying.
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Available through Amazon
The Academy
They were given a second chance. But someone’s trying to snuff it out.
Bryan, Billy, and Adam never expected to end up at Cumberland Academy—the elite private school where legacy matters most. Handpicked for full-ride scholarships, each brings something unique to the table: Bryan's raw strength on the football field, Billy's baseball ability, and Adam's brilliant mind. But each one’s unique contribution is overshadowed by buried secrets.
And being outsiders in a school built for the rich and powerful isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s dangerous.
When anonymous threats and whispered rumors start surfacing, the trio realizes someone is digging into their pasts... and is determined to see them gone. With the Cavaliers losing football season casting a long shadow and tensions rising both on and off the field, Bryan, Billy, and Adam must decide who they can trust—before they lose not just their futures, but their only shot at redemption.
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Available through Amazon
Photograph courtesy of Mercersburg Academy
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For information about Mercersburg's Young Writers Camp:
The Grotto
Three friends travel to the Bahamas for a once in a lifetime dive trip where they unravel a 200 year old mystery and learn that some secrets should remain buried.
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Available through Amazon
Book Trailers
BackStories
Signs
Teacher Resources
For students of every ability and background, it is the simply miraculous act of reading a good book that turns them into readers. The job of adults who care about reading is to move heaven and earth to put that book into a child's hands.
- Nancie Atwell
Addled Lessons -
What's Really Going On In English Classrooms & What Needs to Change
by Robert Hankes and Dean R. Smith, Ph.D.
Einstein aptly defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Addled Lessons pokes holes in a lot of the things going on in English classrooms that we've convinced ourselves are essential but that don't produce results. However, there is one approach that really helps kids read more and write better.
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For more information, go to
https://addledlessons.blogspot.com/
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