Elise Haroldson

I discovered the inspiration for one of my manuscripts during a visit to our local museum in the summer of 2018. The exhibit featured mythological creatures, and we enjoyed learning about the history of everything from unicorns to mermaids to dragons. As a fantasy enthusiast, I’ve read fun, epic adventures that featured most of the mythological creatures in the exhibit—except one.

This visit left me curious to learn more. After researching the topic, I experimented with concepts and theories in my imagination. Then, inspiration hit me in the most unlikely of places—during a quiet moment while reading my Bible.

After that day, the idea for a young adult book wouldn’t leave me. I mulled it over for another year. Characters came to life. The perfect setting for my scenes developed (a location that we visited often). After a while, I began sharing my ideas with my teens, and they loved them. I wondered if other teens might connect with it as well.

Fast forwarding to January 2020, I finally sat down and wrote the story. I did not know what I was doing, but I typed chapter after chapter—melding together the styles of some of my favorite young adult books.

When I finished my rough draft four months later, I knew I had something unique and fun, but it needed a lot of work. I spent the next few years digging into the craft of writing (I probably should have done that first!), revising my story, developing my characters, and learning about the publishing industry.

In the spring of 2021, I entered my first writing contest. The judges provided great feedback and suggestions, leading to another round of edits as I tightened my starting chapters. Then, in the fall of 2021, I discovered I was a finalist in the second contest I had ever entered. The ACFW Virginia Crown Awards was the catalyst to my aspiring author journey. From that online conference, I met other authors, plugged into an ACFW critique group, joined Instagram, began blogging, and started networking with other aspiring and published authors.

Since then, this manuscript has gone on to be a finalist in three other contests: the Oregon Christian Writers Cascade Awards, ACFW First Impressions, and Realm Makers Aurora Awards. Then, in 2025 this manuscript WON the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award.

Currently, I’m querying this manuscript to agents and publishers. I’ve had five full manuscript requests, three of them are still under consideration, but I have yet to find my “Yes.” As I query, I’m wrapping up edits on a second manuscript and plan to send it out to beta readers soon.

I invite you to join me on my aspiring authro journey. Sign up for my newsletter for updates and clean teen book reviews. I’d love to stay connected. – elise