By Angelica Fraine ’23, Staff Writer

Life has a strange way of taking us places we never thought we’d go. 

For Khalil Brim, this was how he discovered his passion for the written craft. 

“For a very long time, I didn’t know what I wanted to be,” Brim said. “Then, 10th grade hit, and I hated school with a passion. You know, one of those 15 year-old periods where you just hate everything? So, I thought, I need to do something that will get me out of school, and that was writing.”

In his earlier life, Brim experienced death in the family, leading to his love of poetry. So throughout his sophomore year in high school, he wrote numerous poems and stories which developed into a dream of leaving school and becoming published.  Now an LVC Alum, Brim is riding the highs of promoting his action/adventure novel, “The Flower of the Valencia”, a novel of two sworn enemies, who ultimately must come together in the face of danger to protect those they love and show the world who they really are. 

“I had this idea for an action packed story, but I didn’t get far,” Brim said. 

In the beginning stages of his writing process, Brim said there were only two characters and copious amounts of action, causing roadblocks at every turn. Eventually, he put the story away and wouldn’t look at it again for another two years, until his 12th grade English teacher helped him put the pieces into place. 

“She told me a very famous mantra in the writing community: Write what you want to read, not what you think people want you to write. That story back then did not have magic, and all I was reading was fantasy,” Brim said.

With motivation replenished and a new outlook on his writing, Brim continued to work elements of the fantastical into his novel. He brought the story new life that unraveled a complex narrative of four different views to offer readers a gripping atmosphere devoid of a dull moment. 

“I think the number one thing readers can take away is trusting your heart and trusting who you are as an individual,” Brim said. 

He feels that we as humans believe so much of what our surroundings and other people’s narratives of who we are say about us. In his novel, the characters go through moments where others try to define their story. They are then tasked to look inside themselves and find a way to show those closest to them who they truly are.

“Yes, it’s a high-paced action-packed story, but I think with any work that I do, I will always have some type of under-carrying of meaningfulness to it,” Brim said. “I think whenever we write, it’s a representation of the self. My self is in this book, cover to cover, and I encourage people to read it not only for the action, but to try to get the meaning of those actions as well.”

Brim’s novel, “The Flower of the Valencia” is available everywhere for purchase.