Harrison Township teen publishes first novel

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Many teens dread the thought of facing down an essay in school, but in Harrison Township, one 15-year-old approaches writing differently.

Aaralynn Karman will release “Meeting Twilight,” the first book of the young writer’s fantasy series “The Great Diviner,” on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Finding its origins in a dream Karman had, the novel follows 14-year-old Aria Chesler as she discovers her magic and tracking down the powerful foe responsible for kidnapping her parents.

“It was a little bit challenging because I had never written a full-blown novel that actually made sense,” Karman said. “I started with characters and, after creating two characters, I had a dream about the storyline of ‘The Great Diviner’ series and then I just started writing it and let my imagination lead the rest of the way.”

Karman’s journey into writing began around age 9.

“I really, really, really wanted a horse, so I wrote a story about me having one,” Karman said.

It was through writing about her desire to own a horse that Karman found a love for writing and sharing her writing with other people, sticking with the habit well into her teens. As time went on, her interest in writing combined with a love of worldbuilding, leading Karman to set her sights on writing a novel.

The road to completing and bringing a novel to print was not an easy one. Karman wrote several novellas along the way which, in her words, were “very short” and “didn’t make much sense.” That even led her to stop writing for some time after she said she lost confidence in her writing. Finding an editor for “Meeting Twilight” was another challenge, as many of the editors she contacted were not interested in working with a teenage writer. Finally, she was able to secure one.

Publishing “Meeting Twilight” was a learning experience. Her mother, Heather, was also self-publishing, and Aaralynn learned a bit from her while finding out more about publishing on her own by reaching out to other authors through Instagram. Aaralynn ended up using Instagram as a key promotional tool for the book and series.

“I started Instagram a little over a year ago,” Aaralynn said. “I started sharing about my book and then it took a little while to get going, but this year, it’s really taken off and a lot of people have become interested in the book.”

With “Meeting Twilight” on the way and the second “Great Diviner” book written, Aaralynn has her eyes set on yearly releases through 2026. A fifth book is being considered, though the decision will be based on the length of the fourth book. Outside of the “Great Diviner” books, Aaralynn plans to release “Fun Guy the Mushroom Man,” a children’s picture book originally written for her homeschool co-op creative writing class, later this year.

“Meeting Twilight” will be available online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble starting Tuesday, Sept. 12.