Most days, and like most kids, Lucas Avery goes to school virtually on a Chromebook from his Rotterdam home. On this Monday morning, he’s in his favorite class - English Language Arts.

"I’m getting a lot done, and it ties in really well to in-person," Avery said.

Despite these new circumstances, it hasn’t slowed down the Drape Middle School seventh grader. For example, he’s still in band, where he plays the trumpet.

And in between practices and his classes, he’s still pursuing his other passion: writing books. At 12 years old, Avery has already authored four of them.

"I love writing twists, setting them up, planting like little seeds, like little evidence in the earlier parts of the books, and then it leads up and it becomes so obvious what it is supposed to mean," Avery said.

He says he got into reading at a very early age. Avery always saw writing as a way to express his ideas.

Avery’s books include "Whiteface," which is based on the disappearance and death of Mabel Douglass on Lake Placid in the 1930s.

"The book is about trying to solve what happened to Mabel, while also trying to flee from a ghost and trying to figure out the past," Avery said.

He was inspired after hearing about Douglass’ story while on a boat tour and vacationing in Lake Placid. Avery completed the book in about five months, right before the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Since then, he’s even written a sequel. Avery never lets a good idea go to waste.

"I just kind of go. I don’t really plan anything out that much," Avery said. "I kind of just write, and I’m like ‘oh this would fit here,’ and so I write it."

His writing is usually published as E-Books and free to read. And Avery is just getting started. Right now, he is working on two more books.