Henderson teacher pens story about jazz -- and much more
Jul. 19—HENDERSON — Michael Bean, a seventh grade English teacher at Vance Charter School, has entered the literary world by publishing his debut novel, "Jazz."
He'll be at Perry Memorial Library for a book signing on Saturday, Aug. 12, from 11 a.m. to noon.
"It's exciting, and scary... all at the same time," Bean said of being a published author. He noted that his biggest concern at the moment is ensuring he has enough copies for the signing, as reactions to his novel announcement on Facebook show a high demand, he said.
"That's a good problem to have, right there," said Bean.
After the signing, he plans on promoting online sales of the book.
"Jazz" is a coming-of-age story about a middle school jazz band teacher named Mr. Undergrove and the tribulations of one of his students, Mitchell Williams.
Bean drew from his own experiences as a jazz band student growing up for the novel, and noted that he needs jazz to work.
"If I turn my jazz music off when I'm trying to work," he said, "I can't do anything, my brain just wanders. So, it kind of keeps me focused."
Write what you know, as he said.
Born in Ohio, Bean moved to Henderson when he was 12. By high school, he was ready to leave.
"Every teenager hates where they live," Bean said. "The kids in Henderson hate Henderson, the kids in Oxford hate Oxford, the kids in Raleigh hate Raleigh. And then, you become an adult, and you're like, oh! It's not that bad after all. That's part of the growing up process."
He noted that after meeting the girl of his dreams, the two moved right back.
"That's kind of God's sense of humor, right there," said Bean.
Bean taught high school English for 10 years before teaching at Vance Charter Middle School, going on eight years now. He noted that it was "kind of ironic" that he has ended up teaching middle school students.
"One, I swore I'd never teach middle school, and I'm doing that," Bean said. "And, two, when you think about the worst year of any kid's life, it's seventh grade, and I'm kind of in the thick of that. It's all the things I swore I'd never do, and here I am doing it."
Bean has degrees in creative writing and secondary English education from Elon University.
"It kind of spawned from there," Bean said of where his interest in writing comes from. Since graduating from college, he hasn't had much time for the art.
"Being an English teacher, I'm constantly reading and writing and stuff all the time," said Bean. "It's just kind of one of these things I do in my spare time."
He shared a bit about where the novel came from.
"I'm a teacher," said Bean, "and when the world shut down, back during the pandemic during 2020, around April I just started writing what I thought was just going to be a little, quick short story about teachers in general.
"And, it kind of evolved from there. I got some cool ideas and everything... I was like, this could be really cool, if I just focused on a band teacher."
Back to the drawing board. What started as a short story became a longer short story, then a novella, then a novel. Three years and eight drafts later, along with lots of support from his wife, "Jazz" was born.
Writing a novel isn't the most linear process, he said. A writer writes when that feeling hits. Besides "Jazz," he's working on two more novels as well as a graphic novel. When he sits down to write, the wind takes him to one of them.
"Hopefully, I just want [readers] to read a story and have a good time reading it," Bean said of the book. "I think, part of any form of entertainment we have, whether it is music, or sports, or a movie, we want to be entertained. We want to feel like we're a part of the story.
"I'm kinda hoping that anybody that picks up the book, they find a connection to one of the characters or one of the circumstances, and they find themselves engaged in the story. And, I think any storyteller, that's what they want... you're hoping the reader finds themselves engaged in the story and part of the story in some way, shape or form."
With that, here's the synopsis.
"All Mitchell wants to do is survive middle school. Heck, that's all any kid wants when they're in middle school, especially for the students of King's Hollow, which may be the roughest school in town. When King's Hollow gets a new band director in the form of Mr. Undergrove, things start to turn around for Mitchell and his bandmates as they prepare for their first band competition and begin to experience an emotion they've never felt at school before: hope.
"Told through two intersecting yet different timelines, Jazz tells the story of teenager Mitchell Williams as a middle schooler, as he deals with getting jumped in the locker room, preparing for a band competition, and meeting a girl with a possessive ex-boyfriend; and then as a high schooler, where Mitchell is faced with bickering bandmates, a school trip to New York City, and learning how to deal with a relationship gone wrong.
"Jazz is a coming-of-age novel about a school jazz band, but it's also a novel about getting your heart broken, trying to fit in, teachers that don't understand teenagers, bullies, music, love, rejection, movies, and the wonder and awe of friendship, even when you're a band geek."
