It’s often difficult to get the average high school student to write more than a one-page paper for class, let alone anything in their free time. AHS senior, Molly Ben-Hamoo, is no average high schooler as she has recently completed her first novel, Woomates (a reference to her twin sister). The 50,000 words, or approximately 200 pages, explores Molly and her twin sister, Sarah’s, sophomore year spent abroad in Hong Kong, China after their family decided they wanted a new experience.

While this is the first book she has written, she has done a lot of screenwriting in the past, and attended a screenwriting program at New York University last summer.

“I’ve never really done this kind of writing, like I’ve only done screenwriting, and so I didn’t realize it’s a very different kind of writing. It’s challenging for me,” Ben-Hamoo said.

After meeting an agent who used to work at her dad’s restaurant, Ben-Hamoo showed the agent a television pilot she had written and was quickly signed on. Her agent then suggested that she write a book to get her name out there since it is easier to sell a book than a movie. After the book proposal was picked up by Post Hill Press in August, Ben-Hamoo was off to work, writing 1,000 words a day. Throughout the process, her mom, Peggy Scharlin, was able to see her daughters passions and writing strengths.

“My favorite part was that I could totally hear Molly’s voice in it,” Scharlin said. “It was exciting to watch her write because she was so disciplined because that is what she wants to do.”

After finishing her book in mid-December, Ben-Hamoo submitted her finished book to her agent and publisher, and is now waiting for edits and critiques.

Woomates is just the start for Ben-Hamoo, who has big plans for her exploration of the entertainment industry.

“I want to be the showrunner of my own sitcom, which means I’ll be the head writer and executive producer. I also want to be a screenwriter, but screenwriters don’t have that much control over their movies. Once you sell your script they could change it and the director gets to decide what it looks like, so I want to get into directing also. And also I want to own a production company,” Ben-Hamoo said.

As for her current project, Woomates is predicted to hit shelves this spring, and she is already working on something new.

“I’m writing a movie, but I’m always writing a movie.”