Clara Brownell Middle School seventh-grader Naomie Wyckoff hopes to one day be a computer programmer, but during her down time, she also wants to write books.

So when she and her peers had the chance meet with young adult author Dale Bayse and then attend the Cavalcade of Authors conference Friday, she was ecstatic.

“I got to ask (Bayse) a lot of questions,” she said. “It’s a fun experience to find out how he became an author and what all he had to do.”

Bayse is the author of a young adult series called “Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go.” The series, similar to that of Dante’s “Inferno,” follows characters as they make their way through different layers of Heck, rather than Hell, making it more lighthearted and child friendly. Each book focuses on a particular sin that the character commits, such as lying or being greedy, which results in them dying and dealing with their life after death. The tone of the books isn’t so heavy as it may sound, however.

Bayse told students Thursday he tried to make his characters’ deaths as ridiculous as possible, so they were still funny for children, like when one child dies in a marshmallow explosion.

“I tried to make them all silly,” he told the students with a laugh.

Many students were interested in his creative process and how he got started in the writing business. Bayse told them he went to school for journalism and film making, and, before writing novels, he actually reviewed movies for the San Francisco Chronicle in college before starting his own newspaper business with his wife and then landing a job at the Willamette Weekly.

Bayse said he has always enjoyed stories, which was why being a writer was a perfect fit. His job in journalism, however, didn’t pay well enough for he and his wife, which is when he took a job at Nike. Shortly after that, he began writing his children’s series.

Bayse said he has always been interested in books and used to enjoy reading science fiction and comic books growing up. Now that he writes fiction for a living, however, he finds he doesn’t like to read fiction as much anymore.

“It’s weird,” he said. “Now, I like to read biographies.”

Wyckoff said she could relate to Bayse in that she, too, is interested in stories, but also wants to pursue another career. She is currently on the robotics team at CBMS, which has spurred her interest in programming. She asked Bayse if it was possible to do that and write, and his response made Wyckoff smile.

“Absolutely, you can do both,” he said. “I have a friend who has started in that. She’s 50 years old, but she wanted to take classes in programming. She loves it.”

Seventh-grader Andrea Hernandez said she enjoyed asking Bayse questions because she also wants to become a writer.

“I’m actually writing a story at home,” she said. “He was helpful in trying to come up with ideas.”

Sixth-grader Nataly Vazquez said she also wants to be a writer and used meeting Bayse as an opportunity to gain perspective on what being an author is like.

“You get to see what his process is,” she said. “Since meeting him, I have more knowledge on how it all works. When you get to meet an author, you get a whole new perspective.”

Seventh-grader Darian Smith said he just enjoyed being able to meet and interact with an author.

“It’s cool spending time down here with him,” he said. “I think it is fun.”