Not many people can say that by the time they were 8-years-old, they were a published author. Bellevue resident Griffin Hehmeyer can.

A student at The Little School, Griffin started working on his first book – with the help of family and friends – seven months ago. Today, his book “The Marakon Ways,” has already sold 67 copies worldwide.

The first installment in a planned six-books series called “The Adventures of Wolf Land,” “The Marakon Ways” is a fantasy novel for children. The book, which follows main characters Daniel and Lily as they explore the unknown world of Wolf Land, was published by Griffin and his family through Lulu.com.

Griffin said he was inspired to write a book after creating a game with friends in which he played the role of the King of the Wolves.

“The next year, I decided to write about it,” Griffin said. “I just thought, that would be a pretty good story.”

The book, which is available now, also features original illustrations from his classmates.

Griffin’s mother, Jaime Teevan, said she first learned about Griffin’s book when he was three months in to writing it. At the time, Griffin’s teacher, Matt Weiner, sent Teevan a large document he had been working on with Griffin.

Weiner, decided to get involved because he saw how passionate Griffin was about the project.

“My thinking was, what a great opportunity for him to be passionate about literacy and writing and wanting to be an author,” Weiner said.

He said he wanted to encourage Griffin; he didn’t want him to feel defeated.

“I was reticent to read it because it’s a lot of text written by an 8-year-old,” Teevan said.

She said she decided to read it because it was her son’s story.

“It was really fun to read it and see that it was such an engrossing book,” Teevan said. “I thought that was a real treat.”

While Teevan said her son had written stories in the past, this was by far his most ambitious.

Griffin said he knew from the moment he started crafting the story he wanted it to be a series. What’s even more unusual about this project is that Griffin never wrote a complete rough draft. Rather, he dictated the story to his teacher, who typed it out.

Teevan said Griffin has a very strong vision of what he wants this book series to be. She said it has useful for him to work with his classmates and share that vision.

“That’s something else I’ve really liked about this,” Teevan said. “It’s been a lot of skills for Griffin. You think about it as writing, but it’s really been a lot more than that.”

Griffin said the book’s title is derived from the ancient martial arts that Daniel and Lily use to battle the bad guys – Arclos and his five evil sons – throughout the book. He said the second book in the series, which he has already begun working on, will build on these themes.

Griffin said his favorite part about writing the book was being able to hold the finished product. He also likes that people are buying the book and reading it.

Teevan said a lot of her friends have bought the book with the intention of sharing it with their children, and encouraging them to write their own.

Teevan said the Little School has already hosted a book release and signing party at the school’s library and they hope to do more.

Griffin admits the editing process was a bit of a challenge. He said his teacherwould sometimes insert funny phrases into the draft – like, “and they hula danced all night” – to make sure Griffin was paying attention.

But what’s been the biggest challenge yet? Griffin didn’t know how to sign his last name until having to do so for the signings.

“H-E-H-M-E-Y-E-R,” Griffin said.

Another lesson learned.

‘The Marakon Ways’ ($10, plus shipping) is available online at the Lulu, Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites. All proceeds go to The Little School.