Whether you call it a release of pent-up creativity or beginner’s luck, Karen Trout wrote a ton of poetry this past summer.

The Niles native, who currently resides in Hillsboro, Ohio, pumped out dozens of poems in about a three-month span last summer that led to the release of five books filled with her verses.

The summer project began when the elementary music teacher was preparing her students for a poetry program.

“I figured if I’m going to have them all write a poem, I should too,” Trout said.

It was the first time she had tried her hand at poetry.

“And gosh, I had so much fun doing it,” Trout said.

That one poem provided a creative spark and unearthed a hidden talent.

Trout began pulling out old photographs she had taken of her garden and other nature scenes for inspiration. And she just put pen to paper.

“Before I knew it I had written enough poems to fill five books,” she said.

For a period of about 10 weeks, Trout was writing a poem a day.

Trout admitted she was very surprised at how easily the creativity flowed.

“I don’t understand it,” she said with a laugh.

At the encouragement of a friend, Trout then combined her poems with her photography and found a self-publishing company called CreateSpace through amazon.com to release her work to the world.

Her five books — “A Garden from A to Z,” “A Change of Season,” Backyard Birds from A to Z,” and “In My Own Backyard” — are all available for purchase at amazon.com.

Trout, 44, said the experience was fun because she discovered “it is never too late to discover a hidden talent, even at my age.”

So is she planning to continue her blistering writing pace and release another book?

Not any time soon, said Trout, who needs to focus on her job.

“But I just wrote a poem yesterday,” she admitted.

And sometimes that’s all it takes.