Great news! My latest graded reader, The Dark Lights: The complete edition, has become a finalist for a 2026 Language Learner Literature Award. The winner will be announced in August (there are three finalists). Wish me luck!
This project started in early spring last year and, honestly, was quite a lot of work. But I enjoyed the writing and it think was worth it. Not just because of the finalist award but also the great feedback so far from readers (the full series is also on Xreading).
So, why did I write this reader? Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved science and science fiction. I grew up watching Carl Sagan on TV. I also grew up watching Star Wars movies and wondering about aliens, UFOs, and saving the world (!) But, although I’d already written a number of graded readers, this was my first time to write science fiction. I knew writing a science fiction graded reader was going to be more difficult. I had to not only make the story engaging and relatable but also keep the language simple enough for lower-level readers.
My original plan was to write just one shorter reader (only Jack’s story) but, after getting some encouragement from people around me, decided to expand the project to also include Betty’s and Sam’s stories. They would all be connected so readers could find out more about what happened as they read the three stories.
The first reader, Jack’s story, took the longest to write (around eight drafts, even before grading the language!). The first drafts were very different to the final story. They had different titles (The Last One then The Sky Lights) and Betty and Sam weren’t even in it until draft three. But as I wrote more drafts the story continued to develop and evolve. It was also helpful getting feedback (sometimes brutally honest!), from family, friends, and colleagues.
Once Betty and Sam’s characters were established in Jack’s story, it was relatively easy (and more fun!) to develop their stories over the next two readers (I especially enjoyed including the crop circles and a crazy scientist in Book 2!).
The most difficult thing here was connecting all three stories in a way that didn’t confuse the readers or create any gaping plot holes. But after more rewriting and testing etc. the project seemed to come together really well, especially after the expert final editing by my good friend Ian Richards.
Anyway, I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy it!
Paul, author
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