Meet local author at the Bookworm of Edwards Oct. 26
By Mackenzie Koffenberger
Stories can be born from anywhere. Some are created from trips, world events, chance-encounters—and sometimes dreams.
Thursday evening at the Bookworm, join local Jennifer Alsever to discuss her subconscious inspiration for the Trinity Forest series, one of the Bookworm’s top-selling young-adult fantasies.
Her interactive showcase will focus on the writing process, story development, editing, publishing and why Ember Burning and Oshun Rising are addictive reads for any age.
As an accomplished journalist of twenty-three years, Alsever pivoted to writing fiction after a dream inspired a story.
“I just remember that I was the character Ember and I was running into a forest. I met these kids there and they were telling me about what was happening in the outside world but I could never escape,” Alsever remembers, “When I woke up it was so compelling to me.”
To turn a dream into a story, Jennifer had to look outside the journalism world where she was comfortable, to learn and grow.
“I took a novel writing class online to learn how to structure and develop the story. The process was exciting,” explains Alsever. “I had to figure out why these characters were there, and that evolved over time.”
She describes the new writing project as obsessive.
“It was constantly on my mind as I was constantly doing research and developing the story.”
Creating characters that connect with all readers allowed for further exploration into writing.
“I feel like it is a really novel premise. It is a story that works on a lot of levels. The character Ember is really relatable to young people who are struggling with depression,” tells Alsever, “it has a good mix of love story, mystery and a bit of conspiracy theories.”
To push the work through the publishing process, Alsever hired an editor through an online source of editors and book cover designers—but allowing family and friends to read her work, proved to be the hardest part.
“I felt fine handing my work to an editor, I was nervous to give it to people I knew. Then putting it out on social media, I felt naked in front of the crowd. It’s so close to me that I had to work hard to develop a thick skin.”
Once her first book was published she knew that promoting the book was becoming the hardest part. The Trinity Forest comes to life in the promotional videos and online sources that Alsever created for the series.
“I knew from business stories I wrote about, that videos were appealing especially to young people,” she explains, “So I modeled my marketing off of that, with the goal to create videos and extra content to engage my audience and draw new people in.”
From online videos, to the Vail Escape Room cross-promotion, her book series can be see across platforms to keep you interested—including in-person speaking events.
“The promotion with the Bookworm and other indie booksellers was appealing because while online books are growing there are so many people who want to buy in local indie bookstores where you can connect with real people, get advice and meet authors one on one,” reflects Alsever.
Today she is working on finishing the third novel to complete the Trinity Forest story.
“I love what I do, and I feel so grateful. “
IF YOU GO:
What: Jennifer Alsever, author of “Ember Burning” and “Oshun Rising”
When: 6 p.m. Thursday, October 26
Where: The Bookworm of Edwards, 295 Main St., Riverwalk at Edwards.
Cost: $10; includes appetizers
More information: Call 970-926-READ, or visit http://www.bookwormofedwards.com.