I think there is never-ending potential for christian storytellers within the genre of adventure stories. I’m sitting here trying to figure out how to express my excitement for it, and I don’t even know if I can. My ideas for different worlds are exploding behind my eyelids as we speak.

As I’ve gotten older, my search for a specific kind of adventure genre, with God at the center, that showcases the truth of why we have been put on earth by our loving creator, with a slightly older main character, (20s, maybe?) deeper life lessons and harder topics, without any spice, but a good amount of action, moral weight, and God’s truth rooted throughout the story, has gotten ever more urgent. I want to replace my ineffectual social media consumption with stories, again, like what I used to devour when I was 13.

I know that books like this must be out there, and indie authors are producing quality stories all the time, however, I yearn for a very specific thing.

(Please feel free to send me reading recommendations!! You can email me by clicking on the Contact tab, or message me on Instagram.)

I will continue to search for books of this specific genre. While I search, I’ll also write. I feel deeply called to enter into this genre myself as an artist. 

Numerous, loaded journals from age 11 to 27 have proven to me that I am no doubt meant to write, and the urgency to share this thing that God has given me is growing to a point.

So. I am working on something that is going to be amazing.

As a young reader, I was endlessly inspired by the sense of magical freedom found in books like The Percy Jackson series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Hobbit. I grew up captivated by the self-reliance of characters in Little House on the Prairie and the lesser-known Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson, and the Angel Experiment book series by James Patterson. (That last one was a huge influence on my writing voice as a kid!) Fantasy stories like The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville sparked my imagination to travel to different worlds. I also could not get enough coming-of-age series, like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, and Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick, with rich character details, real life issues and intense personal growth.

Other books I cannot fail to mention here that have greatly impacted my love for books include A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Isabel of the Whales by Hester Velmans, The Giver series by Lois Lowry, and the Nancy Drew books. (Let it be noted that I picked up Isabel of the Whales at Barnes and Noble when I was 11 years old because it had my name in the Title.)

All the elements of these stories have deeply resonated with me since I was very young, and these stories, along with many others, still find opportunity to influence my thoughts, daily.