A 1981 Seneca Valley Senior High graduate has sold a half-million books since writing her first science fiction/fantasy story, “Tinker,” in 2003, and her latest offering takes place on the same planet of Elfhome.

“Storm Furies” is the seventh book in the Elfhome series, which has been building to all-out war over the years.

“’’Storm Fury’ is basically the climax of the war,” said Wendy Kosak, whose pen name is Wen Spencer.

Kosak explained that the Elfhome series is set in Pittsburgh … which is on the planet Elfhome.

“It fell off Earth and landed on Elfhome,” said the fantasy-minded Evans City native.

Kosak, who has lived in Hilo, Hawaii, for 14 years, said four of her books are science fiction, but the rest are fantasy.

“I like that about anything can happen,” she said of the genre. “Your imagination can go wild and isn’t constrained by someone saying ‘That’s not how it goes.’”

She said many of her stories are set in or around Evans City or Pittsburgh.

“My family has been there for generations,” Kosak said.

She wrote for the Seneca Valley literary magazine as a high school student, and won a state award for one of her stories.

As there were no creative writing classes at that time, Kosak took many English classes at Seneca.

She recalled a seventh-grade guidance counselor who knew Kosak wanted to be a writer.

“She looked at my handwriting and said ‘Honey, you are going to have to take typing classes if you want to be a writer.’ That was the best career advice I got in school.”

She also recalled Lynn Stewart, a teacher who was friends with her family, inviting Kosak over to her home in the summer so the instructor could read and critique the novel Kosak was working on.

She said her first two or three novels were not, and will not, be published.

“I have some of those that were a juvenile try,” Kosak said.

One of her favorite authors when she was a student was Mary Stewart.

“She did a Merlin series that I just totally loved,” Kosak said. “I collected them in hardcover.”

She said as a young wife and mother, she would put her son to bed and write into the wee hours of the morning, until she could no longer hold her eyes open.

Kosak said it takes her about a year and a half to complete a novel, which tend to be almost twice as long as the average book.

“I’m a slow writer, but my novels tend to be long,” she said.

Kosak, who has a dedicated fan base, Wikipedia page, interactive website and other trappings of a successful author, said she will likely never stop cranking out the otherworldly stories.

“Most novel writers write until they drop dead,” she said.

Kosak has written another book that likely will be done this month. The book is the second in her Black Wolves series.

“The fans want more of what is going on on Elfhome,” she said.

Kosak admits that writing at her home in the Aloha State is pretty sweet after spending a few years in snowy Boston.

“The room I had set up as my office was so cold and drafty that I basically moved it into a closet to stay warm,” she said.

She explained that her husband took an early retirement and the couple kicked around ideas on where to live.

They tried Japan for a couple months, but found the language barrier too difficult to navigate.

Kosak knew she wanted to live somewhere warm, without the potential for war, and where English is spoken.

When the new version of “Hawaii 5-0” premiered, the couple knew they had found their new home.

“A few months later, we shipped my car to Hawaii and I headed out,” Kosak said. “It was kind of like ‘Let’s get out of Boston before winter.’”

Kosak is making the grueling flight home to spend some time with family in Evans City before jetting to Atlanta, where she will sign books and serve as a panelist at Dragon Con.

Dragon Con is an annual multimedia and pop culture event “focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art and music,” according the event’s website.

“They are expecting 50,000 to 60,000 people to come,” she said.

Kosak has earned the John W. Campbell, Sapphire and Compton Crook awards for her novels.

Kosak has advice for those who might want to delve into her books and series.

“’Tinker’ is probably the best book to start with,” she said.