Elise Haroldson – Aspiring Author

The concept for my current manuscript hit me while visiting a local museum with my three sons 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. Which left me curious to learn more.

I had fun researching the topic and playing around with concepts and theories in my imagination. And then, inspiration hit me in the most unlikely of places – during a quiet moment while reading my Bible. 

The idea for a book wouldn’t leave me after that moment and I mulled it over for another year. Characters came to life – a perfect setting set the scenes (a location that we visited often) – and I started telling my ideas to my tweens ( one who is now a teen). They loved it and I wondered if other teens might connect with it, as well.

Fast forward to January 2020. (Just before the pandemic.) I finally gave myself permission to sit and start writing the story. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just started writing chapter after chapter – melding together the styles of some of my favorite YA books.

When I finished four months later, I realized my error – as the book was too long. I cut it in half and then have spent the past year and a half editing, digging into the craft of writing (I probably should have done that first!), fleshing out my story and characters, and researching the publishing industry.

I joined the American Christian Fiction Writers in the Spring of 2021 and entered my first fifteen pages and one-page synopsis into the Genesis Contest. I received helpful feedback but knew I needed to change a lot of things. At the end of summer 2021 – I submitted my first few pages and one-page synopsis to the ACFW VA Crown Awards – and was overjoyed to find out I was a finalist!

My proposal is finished – and I am ready to start querying agents and publishers. I invite you to join me on this journey!

Savage #1 (age 14), Savage #2 (age 12), and Savage #3 (age 9) are my ultimate Beta Readers and book experts. They know what they like, and they don’t sugar-coat it.

As the saying “you are what you eat” implies – we need to be careful what we consume. But that goes further than what we put in our *mouths* – as more importantly we need to be careful what goes into our MINDS!

With my Savage Readers we take to heart the idea “Since you are what you eat, be careful what BOOKS you DEVOUR!” We hope to turn fellow Savage Readers into Savvy Readers!

Check us out on Instagram @SavageReaders and we’ll be highlighting what we are reading, loving, and recommending!