Kennesaw State University alumnus Taylor Hartshorn self-published her very own novel in October of last year, just three weeks short of turning 25.
Hartshorn first began writing her young-adult novel, “Different Walks,” while attending KSU for her bachelor’s degree.
“It started as a short story for a class I had at KSU, and the teacher I had told me I should make it into a novel,” Hartshorn said. “I started the book my sophomore year and finished it within a year, and then revisited it a few years later when I met with a writing coach.”
When asked to describe what her book was about, Hartshorn said that it is a coming-of-age story.
“There’s a lot of tragedy, adventure, romance and suspense, just a lot of different aspects,” Hartshorn said. “It goes between two alternating characters and their perspectives combine toward the end of the story, but it’s how they get there that’s important.”
Hartshorn graduated from KSU in May 2014 with a degree in communication, concentrating in journalism and citizen media.
“I knew I always wanted to do journalism, but KSU showed me variety more than anything else,” Hartshorn said. “I had one idea of writing in mind, and it showed me that there are a lot of different kinds. I’d really like to get into a newsroom, even just behind the scenes, but KSU encouraged me to explore this side of writing before doing anything else.”
Hartshorn said that when she started her job after graduating, she was working from home on her laptop a lot, which led her back to the story she had written in college.
“It was sitting on my laptop for so long, and I went back and re-read it and thought ‘I should do something with this,’” Hartshorn said.
After that, she hired a writing coach from Write Your Story and talked to her on the phone weekly for 12 weeks while she perfected her story.
“My writing coach was a huge help, and they also had a writing team that helped me out, but I oversaw everything and had the final say,” Hartshorn said. “I probably read it 20 times in the revision process, but in the end, I was pleased with it. I bought the copyright through them and took it over so it would be self-published.”
Hartshorn said she did not have an outline when she wrote her book and enjoyed stumbling into new ideas, so the ending became clearer the more she wrote. She also said that, although she did not work with an outline, she would recommend an outline for those attempting to write a book because it can help to keep you organized.
“Talking about my idea out loud got me thinking more about my story and gave me the confidence I needed to move forward with it,” Hartshorn said. “Some weeks I would write one hour, and others it would be 10 hours. The most fun part for me was just going to Starbucks and being on a roll with a thought.”
When it was all said and done, writing and publishing her own book was a great experience and she would recommend it to anyone.
“I miss KSU and I wish I was back there every day,” Hartshorn said. “A lot of the classes I took gave me the push I needed to do this, so that’s why I reached out to The Sentinel. People are taken aback that I did it, but they can do it, too.”
Her novel “Different Walks” is available on Amazon as a paperback or on Kindle. It’s also at a few local bookstores, including “Local” on the Marietta Square, “Humpus Bumpus Books” in Cumming and the “Marietta Book Exchange.”
