GUEST POST FROM KARA SWANSON, AND GIVEAWAY FOR "THE GIRL WHO COULD SEE"

(phew, that's a long blog title. :P)

Happy Saturday, everyone! We're sixteen days away from Christmas (um, what). To tide you over until the twenty-fifth, my lovely friend and author, Kara Swanson, is graciously taking over the blog today. (and I've added in a giveaway of her book at the end -- The Girl Who Could See -- so keep reading for that. :)

I'll keep my babbling to a minimum and let Kara take over from here. :D

(Yes, that is a giant picture of her book's cover. You're welcome.)

Hi Katie!

Thank you so much for having me on your blog. So appreciate you reaching out. And I can't wait to hopefully get to see her in person at Realm Makers this year! (Which, if any of you aren't familiar with it, Realm Makers is a Christian writers conference for speculative fiction authors!)

I met Katie through Go Teen Writers, and have always been so inspired by her tenacity and writing skill! She and I both started writing at a young age, and tend to weave our own stories into our fictional ones. My latest release, The Girl Who Could See, came out in June of this year and is about another young woman who is carried along on an adventure.

Fern Johnson can see the impossible. Since she was a child, she has had an imaginary friend named Tristan--but Tristan has never left. This blonde, weapon-wielding warrior has never been far from her footsteps, but while he claims he is here to help, Tristan's very existence is shattering Fern's life. Because she is the only one who can see this invisible hero, and the decaying city around him, while the rest of the world believes that he is only a figment of her imagination. That Fern is going insane. 

But Fern Johnson is not crazy. She can see into a parallel world--and if she's not careful, the monster that desolated Tristan's planet is going to destroy hers.

The Girl Who Could See started off with two short lines in my head, a prompt that I had to follow:

They say every child had an imaginary friend.

Mine never left.

So I continued to tug on that string, and a story about a young woman who stands in the hallway between two worlds is what unraveled. Beyond that, another large aspect that impacted the creation of this story was a real-life battle I was fighting--and am still battling. Lyme Disease. I've had Lyme for six years, and only this past year did I finally find a treatment that is actually curing the disease. I'm so grateful to be almost 100% Lyme-free, but when I wrote The Girl Who Could See, I was thick in the middle of my fight against the sickness. I was in constant pain, and could hardly trust my own mind as I was so tired my thoughts weren't my own.

The emotions and struggles that followed this were soon woven into my novella. Fern is unable to drive, and constantly feels like she doesn't fit in, like she's being pulled between two worlds. With my Lyme symptoms, driving was too dangerous for me to get my license, and I felt like I could see the world passing around me--but I was stuck on the outside, peering in. Unable to tangibly touch life.

Just watch it pass by.

But like Fern, I kept fighting, and eventually was able to survive--thrive, even--despite having a disease that to most would have seemed like a curse. Lyme allowed me to appreciate every moment of my day, it gave me a new gentleness toward the broken and hurting. I have been able to encourage so many with chronic pain, because I've experienced the hopelessness and agony.

I soon came to realize, just like Fern does in The Girl Who Could See, that what may seem like my greatest weakness can actually be my greatest strength. That it's the broken things that can shine the most light.

Thanks so much for that, Kara. <3 If you can't tell from her guest post, she's one of those people with a giant heart that overflows with enthusiasm. Before I skip right to the giveaway... can I flail? Like, how is that for a concept?? Cue the suspenseful music beginning to play because that sounds like pure epicness. *unfortunately doesn't own this book but needs to change that IMMEDIATELY*

Well, if you haven't already bounced to the giveaway with excitement, now's the time to enter for a paperback copy of this awesome novella.

(If the giveaway decides to be stubborn and won't load, follow this link.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway will be open up to the 25th! And on Christmas I'll contact the random winner. But until then there's no stopping you from snagging the book over on Amazon -- after all, it's a short novella that would be perfect to help you catch up on that Goodreads challenge. ;)

Thanks for reading! I hope the rest of your day manages to be both relaxing and productive. (is that possible? maybe. probably. good luck. xD)

(and if you're discovering my blog through this giveaway, hi! Eat some virtual pizza and introduce yourself -- you're more than welcome to stick around.)

<3,

katie grace

don't be afraid to leave a comment below for Kara!