Guest Post! Natasha Larry, author of Darwin's Children

You guys may know that I recently read Natasha Larry's debut YA book Darwin's Children and absolutely loved it. Today I am lucky enough to have Natasha Larry doing the very first ever guest post on Black and Blue Ink! Read on and enjoy her story and how she became the author she is today!

How I Accidentally Became a Young Adult Author

                One of the questions I get asked most often is: why do you write young adult paranormal/fantasy fiction? I never pictured myself a fiction author, not to mention a young adult author. I went to school to study History and considered myself a serious academic. The truth is that Darwin’s Children started as an adult series-a project that began because I’ve always been a comic book nerd. For the longest time, I couldn’t get it to work and nearly gave up on the project until something magical happened. I had a daydream and wrote it down immediately. That daydream later became the prologue of the first book and I haven’t looked back since.

                The magic that happened was that Darwin’s Children became a story for young adults. I suppose it always should have been. My experience writing Darwin’s Children as a young adult novel was incredible and effortless. I literally felt like I was flying and was reminded of why I wanted to be a writer in the first place. I’ve always loved to read thanks to my father, and all people that love to read have that one author or story that seals the deal for them. For me, it was Judy Blume’s Superfudge.

                I heard my 5^th grade teacher tell this story and ever since I’ve been a Blume-maniac. As a young girl, I don’t know how I would have known anything of the world were it not for her book: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I loved the feeling of having a book as a best friend and that was when I started writing. It was all about discovery and coming into your own back then. As a kid I always wrote fiction, and then something terrible happened. I became an adult.

                I stopped writing all together in Graduate school. Of course, I didn’t really stop writing. I probably wrote more in Grad school than at any other time in my personal history. I say I stopped writing because the dream was gone. I wrote because it was required and people sort of expected it from me. Comic books helped keep me young at heart, and I think that had a lot to do with why I wanted to write about super humans. Most people assume I’m influenced predominantly by the Marvel Universe, most notably, the X-Men, and when I first started writing Darwin’s Children, I was. However, my writing didn’t really take off until I started dreaming again and this didn’t happen until I expanded my reach into the DC Universe.

                I remember sitting down to read a graphic novel entitled Kingdom Come by Alex Ross and Mark Waid. The novel deals primarily with the growing disconnect between old school superheroes (think Superman and Wonder Woman) and a new generation of vigilantes. Reading this book made me feel the way I felt when I was a kid reading Judy Blume. I know, I know. My fan boy buddies just died knowing I compared a comic book to Judy Blume. The important thing is that the feeling came back and I was able to dream. One line in particular stood out the most.

               

“The sheer force of Batman’s presence kindles a desperate ember of hope.”

Thank you Natasha for the guest post! It's great to hear that you continued to write through school. I know a lot of people who aspire to some day write novels, myself included, don't thing its possibly to do that and go to school and pursue an education. Glad to know its more than possible! I can't wait to read what's next for Darwin's Children!

Natasha's Links:
Website: www.natashalarrybooks.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/natashalarry

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4356316.Natasha_Larry
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Natasha-Larry/e/B0051BVEGW
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/natasha.larry1



Darwin's Children:
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