His new voice: David Archuleta pens memoir about musical dreams, obstacles

David Archuleta is a dreamer.

And a skeptic.

And an optimist.

And now the 19-year-old singer is also a writer.

Yep. You read that correctly. Archuleta is a published author. Of a book. A 256-page book, to be exact.

And while you might be surprised that the "American Idol" runner-up has writing skills outside of music, no one was more surprised about the prospect of a book than Archuleta himself.

There's a lot more to Archuleta's life than just "American Idol," and when the editors at Penguin publishing house learned of how the young star had overcome vocal cord paralysis and a number of insecurities before finding success as a musician, they saw what Archuleta could not.

"At first, I was like, what? What is there to write about? It's like I'm not that interesting of a person," Archuleta told the Deseret News in a phone interview from Southern California, where he was working with songwriters on new material.

"I didn't think I was all that super special," he said. "Every single person has a story to tell, but not everyone has that opportunity to. I never imagined having this kind of thing, to be able to share my experiences and things that I've learned and have people actually want to hear what I've got to say."

It took a lot of juggling and overcoming fears on Archuleta's part, but on June 1, "Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song and the Power of Perseverance" will hit bookstores.

Getting the book to publication was not an easy process. Archuleta is not a fan of writing. In fact, he finds the process of putting words on a page somewhat terrifying. And beyond that, just remembering all the details of his short life was somewhat daunting.

Luckily, Archuleta had the help of Monica Haim, who pushed the Utahn to go past his typical, brief answers. The more he would say, "I don't know," the more Haim would challenge Archuleta to remember, and, with some work, memories flooded back.

"When you really pay attention and focus enough and try hard enough to think about something and give enough time to think it through, it will come back," Archuleta said. "Even to the point where what you felt comes back and what your surroundings were. It was a really cool exercise for me."

The two worked together from Day One. And it was a lot of work. Long conversations, detailed questions, and editing and re-editing were all done during and in-between tours and recording albums, but Archuleta is extremely proud of "Chords of Strength."

"Nothing's ever perfect, but just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean you give up on it," he said. "Looking back, look at how far we came, look at how much we got accomplished. The things that I feel really good about with the book can help so many people potentially."

Help? you ask. Can a teenager's memoir help me?