The Writing Desk: Book Launch Guest Post: Vision by Beth Elisa Harris

14 June 2011

Book Launch Guest Post: Vision by Beth Elisa Harris

Vision has been a concept for quite some time, since learning years ago about my ancestors from the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland. Those with vivid imaginations can concoct all sorts of drama when your father tells you, “We are descendents of the MacPhie clan, who were ostracized from the island by the MacDonald’s.” Regardless of the details, I had a springboard for a story. Now where, when, how to begin?

I often say I did not arrive at this place by walking a straight line. On the contrary, I have only recently returned to a less complicated frame of mind when dreams were as simple as one wanted them to be. I arrived on planet earth as a writer. That remained the purest of intentions until my warped perception of being a responsible adult slowly chiseled away pieces of my imagination. Before I knew what happened, I was writing business-i.e. things for others, such as articles, press releases, marketing materials, ghost projects and so forth.

To say something in me snapped a couple of years ago is an understatement. Leaving out the details, let me just say I let the muse back in, spent the next year writing, editing and publishing Vision, started writing the two sequels and one other novel, all for young adults.

A voracious reader, I have a very open mind to different genres. Young adult or teen lit was just one of many types I sometimes enjoyed reading. But the more great YA books I read, the more I realized it was my writing genre. It takes more than remembering your early school years to write good YA, you have to love to read it too. The stories made sense, because the younger protagonists tend to be strong, brave, honest, slightly sarcastic and most of all, not whiney. Sometimes ‘adult’ lit carries too much baggage, an over-abundance of skepticism about life weaving through the story, and it’s a turn off. Call me crazy, but I like triumph in some form. It’s the reason you flip pages to reach the end. And yes, really liking young adults helps. I happen to adore teens and pre-teens. Their voices are important. They have a lot to teach us.

I wrote Vision for what is considered upper young adult. That is just how it came out. There had to be some borderline adult situations to keep it real-I’m all about honesty, and my novels don’t contain too many netherworld creatures. Instead my characters are real, diverse in all ways, passionate, vocal and inspiring.

And thankfully the readers agree! More than anything, I love getting comments about the unique flavor of the story, those that say ‘you’ve never read anything like this and I don’t know how to classify this book.’ With that said, those already waiting for the sequel should expect something out later this year. I also hope to finish another YA novel Flyers appropriate for a slightly younger audience.

It’s all on my blog, so hop over for more information. Residents of the UK should be able to currently purchase a Kindle version from Amazon UK and other e-books from Smashwords.