To be a good writer, first you have to be a great storyteller.This is the message that author Patrick Carman wanted to show a group of Auburn Elementary School students he visited Thursday.The school was one stop on Carman’s 120-day tour of the country in support of his new book.So he told them a story. It was a tale of trouble, of how Carman coveted a chocolate cake in his home when he was about 10 years old, and his mom gave him a carrot instead.To keep him from taking the cake, his mother stored it in her room while she took a nap.Carman went to his room and consulted his two favorite action figures, Spider-Man and G.I. Joe.They debated the matter.”The three of us decided together that my evil mother had kidnapped that cake, and they sent me in there to rescue it,” Carman said.The students were roaring with laughter.A series of events unfolded, involving Carman temporarily taking the cake, stealing the frosting using the carrot as a spoon and eventually getting caught by his parents.These are the kinds of stories that can lead to good books, Carman told the children.”If stuff like that happens to you, you should write that stuff down. Tell it to a friend. … You can’t start writing when you’re my age or older. You’ve got to actually spend time writing when you’re young.”Carman visited three Salem-Keizer elementary schools Thursday: Auburn, Mary Eyre and Gubser.It was a homecoming for the Salem native who graduated from Willamette University with a degree in economics.He now lives in Walla Walla, Wash., with his wife, Karen, and daughters Reese and Sierra.”I’m a small-town kind of guy, and if I can do this, there is no reason why every single one of you can’t,” he told the Auburn students.Carman recently had his first book published, “The Dark Hills Divide,” a youth fantasy about a girl named Alexa who finds adventure as she explores the walls that surround her town.The book is the first in a trilogy called “The Land of Elyon.”Carman always has enjoyed fantasy books.”When I was a kid, I loved the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ books, so there’s a lot of animals in my stories,” he said.He told the children about the importance of having an interesting cover for a book, so people will want to read it.Carman showed several of the incarnations of his book’s cover so the children could see how it evolved into the final choice — a picture of Alexa in the woods, holding a glowing stone as a squirrel perches on her shoulder.”It takes a long time to get it done and get it just right,” he said.The Auburn students said that they loved Carman’s stories and his sense of humor.”I think he was so awesome,” fourth-grader Kseniya Kotenko said. “He’s funny and intelligent. He rocks.”"He’s a smart guy about books,” said her classmate Aleksey Pisarev.Kseniya also enjoys writing fantasy stories, and Carman’s advice stuck with her.”Start writing younger and you’ll be a better writer,” she said.

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