Student by day, novelist by night
Like most students, Heather Frost’s life is a juggling act as she tries to fit in classes, homework and sleep. But, while doing all the regular student activities, Frost said she also has to balance writing, publishing and promoting her young adult novel.
Frost, a junior emphasizing in creative writing, recently had a novel called “Seers” published. The novel, a young adult paranormal romance, is the first book Frost said she’s had published.
“Seers” is the story of Kate, who survives a car crash only to realize she has developed the ability to see people’s “mood auras.” She also begins to see invisible people.
This leads to Kate becoming wrapped up in a war between immortal beings on earth such as guardian angels and demons, and both sides want her on their side in the fight.
The book is the first in a trilogy, and was released less than a month ago. Frost said her inspiration for the novel was the desire to explore ideas about religion and the afterlife.
“I knew I wanted to write about the afterlife,” she said. “I had a little brother who passed away, and that opened up a lot of ideas outside of my Christian beliefs that I wanted to explore. That’s where the inspiration to write about immortality came from.”
Elisha Dew, who reviewed the book on her blog Lit Stack, said “The pacing is good, the characters are viable, and the story holds your attention. And the best part is that after I finished reading, I wanted to know what happens next.”
Frost has been writing books since she was 12 years old. As a home school student, her parents pushed a curriculum based in reading. Her early readings of books such as “Peter Pan,”
“The Scarlet Pimpernel,” and “Jane Eyre” were her earliest inspirations.
“She could read when she was four,” Marlene Frost, Heather’s mother, said. “From the minute she learned, she wanted to write. We have many early drafts with lots of misspellings from these years.”
After completing several drafts, Heather Frost said she tried to publish a novel without success when she was 18. But in summer of 2010, she said she began work on what would become Seers and wrote the first draft in one week.
“I pounded it out,” she said. “I barely ate or slept. Then I started the drafts of the next two and got them finished before school started.”
By November 2010 she had completed the series and sent her manuscript to local publishers.
The manuscript was picked up by Cedar Fort, a publishing house based in Springville, and the first printing reached shelves on Oct. 8.
“I was in the library when I got my acceptance email,” she said. “I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t because I was in the library. It was so great.”
Frost’s book falls into a genre currently gaining popularity in the market — young adult paranormal romance.
With the success of “Twilight,” it seems publishers have been clamoring for manuscripts based in the supernatural. Frost said she thinks the success of the genre is based on readers’ desires to find excitement in their own lives — a classic diversionary draw of fiction.
“People have a fascination with the unnatural,” she said. “They have their ordinary lives, and it’s nice to imagine there’s something strange or weirder or more exciting out there.”
Frost said she encourages other writers at USU who strive for publication, by suggesting that other students looking to publish novels take possible rejection as encouragement and not defeat.
“Remember that a rejection letter is not necessarily a bad thing,” she said. “It was something that took me a while to realize, but I try to think of it as a signpost that you are going the right direction. The day you stop getting rejection letters is the day you stop trying to get published.”
Frost also said when rejections become discouraging, it is important to find support from family and friends.
She said her family has always supported her work, even before it was published. Her mother read each draft of “Seers,” she said, and her family has gone to book signings and other literary events with her.
“It is very exciting,” Marlene Frost said. “It is her dream, and I’m so happy that at such a young age she is getting what she wanted. She’s worked hard and made her dreams come true.”
In the future, Frost said she’d like to be a full-time writer or editor but said she isn’t in it for the fame and fortune.
“Writing has never been about anything except having a great time and doing something I love,” she said. “I just love writing and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
–m.van911@aggiemail.usu.edu