Of all the questions Utah author Sara B. Larson has been asked about her writing and the Defy book series, there is one that she hasn't been asked.
“No one has ever asked me if there was a teacher who was instrumental in inspiring me or giving me motivation as a writer, or making me feel like I could accomplish that,” said Larson, whose latest book, "Ignite" (Scholastic, $17.99, ages 12 and up), was recently released. “But there was a teacher who was really influential in my life.”
Larson often thinks back on a writing assignment given to her fifth-grade class, when she attended Lone Peak Elementary, to write a story. Larson, who started writing down her own stories as soon as she learned to write, took the opportunity to handwrite a 60-page story.
“It was probably supposed to be a short story,” Larson said with a laugh during an interview. “But my teacher, Mr. Thomas, he was having us read them out loud to the class. Instead of telling me that mine was too long, he had me read the whole thing to the class. And then I decided it wasn’t good enough, and I wrote a different one that was, like, 80 handwritten pages, and he had me read that one too.”
Larson remembers Thomas telling her that he knew she would be a writer some day and encouraging and believing in her writing.
“That really impacted me," she said. "Even now, I look back on that and just how amazing it was for a teacher to be patient and allow a fifth-grader to stand up there and read her really probably horrific story out loud to the class — two of them — that took days of reading to get through it. I wish he knew how really grateful I am having that belief in me and giving me that belief.”
Larson noted that because of that experience and Thomas’ encouragement, it was the first time that she considered writing as a possible career.
Now, some 20 years after that fifth-grade experience, “Ignite” — the second book in Larson’s Defy trilogy — has hit bookstores and shelves.
“Ignite” picks up one month after the final scene in “Defy,” where teenage soldier Alexa is dealing with the pain of both physical and emotional scars from her last battle. Larson wastes no time in picking up the speed and introduces a new and far more ominous threat to the kingdom of Antion before the end of the first chapter.
Larson steps up the action and plot, showing definite growth within the series and as an author. While romance is still a main theme, Larson takes a step back from the romance that defined so many pages of “Defy” to instead focus on political upset, mystery, new magic, better villains and action-filled fight sequences.
While the book has many themes, the importance and value of inner beauty becomes a prominent theme in “Ignite.”
“It was never a conscious decision to explore any theme, but in writing the story, (inner beauty) became a very obvious and kind of a main theme of the story,” Larson said. “It’s important to me because it’s so hard sometimes, in our society, to not judge yourself and find yourself lacking because of how physically beautiful or not attractive you may view yourself as being. That is something Alexa really has to try and learn. She really doesn’t value herself as much as she should, and that is something she is learning and trying to work on throughout the course of these books.”
Other themes that Larson hopes readers take away from the series are courage and hope, which have deeper origins than the attributes often displayed by her characters.
The “Defy” series was born from a single scene written as a way for Larson to cope with the grief she was feeling after her cousin’s husband, Josh, passed away from cancer. Having no preconceived notion of a story, characters or plotline, Larson, who said she uses writing as a way to cope with life events, sat down and wrote a death scene, which later bloomed into an entire book.
“The book did come from a sad place, but it really took on its own life and I think became a story of hope and courage,” Larson said. “If there is anything that Josh taught us, it was courage and hope. Even though he didn’t beat the cancer, he fought courageously and he left a legacy of courage. There are deaths and there is loss in the Defy series, but there is courage and hope, too. And I hope that shines through.”
Overall, Larson said that she hopes readers will come away from reading the series inspired to believe in themselves and to “just go do whatever it is in their life that they are a little bit afraid of.”
"Ignite" does not contain swearing or explicit romance but does contain some descriptions of violence associated with war.
If you go ...
What: Sara B. Larson book signing
When: Tuesday, Jan. 6, 7 p.m.
Where: The King's English, 1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City
Web: kingsenglish.com, sarablarson.blogspot.com
Note: Places in the signing line are reserved for those who purchase a copy of the featured book from The King's English.
Also ...
When: Thursday, Jan. 8, 7 p.m.
Where: Provo City Library, 550 N. University Ave., Provo
Web: provolibrary.com/authorlink
Hikari Loftus is a graduate of the University of Utah. She blogs at FoldedPagesDistillery.blogspot.com.