Kenny Rogers Jr. is not just a senior at the University; he is also a published writer.

Rogers sent ‘Thoughts in Italics’ to Publish America in January, and as of last month, the book was searchable as a published work on Amazon.com.

‘When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer, but I was young and stupid and didn’t think writers are remembered,’ he said. ‘I’d been writing in my journal because of problems at home, and now I have six journals just full of thoughts.’

Rogers, a dual-major in political science and English, changed his traditional journal entries into short stories, and he started sending the stories out to literary magazines, but was never published.

Rogers said most of his inspiration comes from the people around him.

‘I realized everybody is a role model and everyone is a character in a book. There are no heroes or villains in real life, but everyone is a teacher.’

He said everyone has a history and something to teach about how to act and respond to things in life.

‘Thoughts in Italics’ could be compared to the writing styles of his favorite author, Ray Bradbury, he said.

‘This book could be considered realistic fantasy. By reading all different books, I was taught how to portray each different character and was taught there is no specific style, as long as the message got across to the audience.’

The book has 14 different short stories. Rogers said he loves them all, but ‘Race’ is his favorite because it is about running, and he loves to run.

Rogers learned a lot about fiction not only from his classes, but through his work for Prairie Margins Literary Magazine as the managing fiction editor.

Karen Craigo, adviser for Prairie Margins and an English instructor who focuses on publishing, said it is uncommon for undergraduates to get published.

‘Kenny is a creative guy, and if anyone could do it, it would be him,’ she said. ‘He just grabbed the bull by the horns and knew he wanted his work to be out there and seen.’

Craigo said Rogers is very creative and imaginative, and he isn’t afraid of emotion.

‘He is not afraid to write a love story,’ she said. ‘He is a guy willing to take chances, and the readers will never know what they will get.’

Dana Burris, a friend of Rogers who bought and read the book, said the book is full of imagination and reflects the author’s personality.

Rogers said he gets a lot of his creativity from being on the forensics team at the University; he was the national champion and is the president of Pi Kappa Delta.

‘I read scripts, and that really helped me get into each one of my characters,’ he said.

Rogers is now working on a novel that is in its final stages. He said he hopes to have it published as early as next year. Craigo said publishing a novel will be key in determining his success as an author.

‘Publishers want to see novels because novels are really very marketable,’ she said. ‘Moving from a short story to a novel would be like a sprinter moving towards marathon racing. Everyone loves a good marathon.’

Craigo says she hopes to see Rogers challenge himself, get an agent, and really focus on getting everything published.

Rogers said over the next five years, he hopes to only be alive and reading.

‘I don’t know where I’ll be in five years, but I hope to be successful,’ he said. ‘My advice for young authors would be to read everything.’

Rogers will be at the Prairie Margins release party on April 23 reading an excerpt from ‘Thoughts in Italics.’ The party is free and open to the public at the Arts Village at 7 p.m. Games and refreshments will be provided.