AOA Teacher Authors Message of Hope

The following article was featured in my school’s company newsletter, and the editor who conducted the interview graciously gave me permission to share it here with you. I’m so blessed to work at a place that supports my writing! 

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The genre of dystopian young adult fiction has become highly popularized in recent years with blockbuster novels like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Giver; however, Alpha Omega Academy teacher Kristen Hogrefe knew she wanted the genre to offer more than just entertainment.

“I wanted to offer hope,” the first-year AOA teacher said in a phone interview from her home in Spring Hill, Florida. “Dystopian novels are oftentimes so bleak. Maybe the heroine survives, but the cost is so severe that it hardly seems worth it.”

Published on June 6, 2017, The Revisionary is Hogrefe’s fourth novel and the first of a new Rogues trilogy with Write Integrity Press. The novel’s protagonist is Portia Abernathy, a 19-year-old girl who must overcome a physical handicap to rebuild her unraveling world.

“She’s on a quest for truth, and she’s trying to rescue her brother from exile in a prison camp,” Hogrefe summarized, “but she discovers that what’s going on in her world is actually a lot more complicated than she thinks. She realizes it’s not just about her world.”

Hogrefe estimated that she wrote The Revisionary over approximately eight months. She anticipates that the second book will be released in early 2018 with the final book out at the end of 2018 or early 2019.

“I’m excited to keep working on things,” she said. “It’s a rigorous timeline, but I’m a planner. I know where I want the plot to go, but at the same time, I can’t be too rigid with my outline because as characters develop, sometimes things have to change.”

Although meeting her writing deadlines while teaching has made for some busy days, Hogrefe said she has greatly enjoyed her first year at Alpha Omega Academy.

“It’s been great,” said Hogrefe. “There’s a lot to learn at any new job, but everyone has been so helpful, and the students are wonderfully polite, at least most of the time. I really enjoy the one-on-one teaching at AOA. It’s less like teaching and more like tutoring.”

The Revisionary is available in paperbook for $14.99 through Amazon. The novel is also available on Kindle. Hogrefe said most retailers should also be able to request the novel even if it’s not on a store’s shelves.

In the end though, Hogrefe knows the impact of her writing goes beyond how many copies her books sell.

“The publishing world is a competitive market,” she said. “I try to look at each sale as an opportunity to touch a life. I have received some feedback from readers, and I know I am touching someone’s life. Whether it’s through enjoyment or challenging a reader to think more deeply, it’s a privilege to have that part in somebody’s life.”

– Article by Glynlyon Editor, Reproduced with Permission

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