Signal Mountain native and author Tim Nance will be signing copies of the first book in his trilogy for young adults, “Night Market,” at Wild Hare Books Saturday, Sept. 7 from 1-3 p.m.
Now a high school teacher in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Nance said he wanted to write something in a genre his students would read.
Effie, the main character of “Night Market,” is taken out of her comfort zone when she goes to live with her father in Costa Rica. Elements of the fantastic enter into play as she discovers a strange fruit market that only operates at night.
Nance said he wanted to play around with the teen vampire novel genre, which he feels “can sometimes be cheesy,” but said he thinks he has a few surprises in store for readers that will make the material feel fresh.
He wrote the novel in November 2011 as a participant in National Novel Writing Month, which challenges participants to complete an entire novel in one month.
“It’s very empowering and encouraging to novelists of all ages,” said Nance of National Novel Writing Month. “It’s an excellent way to show you, you can write more than you think you can, but writing a novel in a month can be quite taxing.”
The next novel in the series will be released in January 2014, he said.
“Part of me didn’t feel the story was complete, and I found it worked best in a set of three,” Nance said in regards to his decision to write a trilogy.
He said a wide variety of people would enjoy reading the book, from high school students to adults.
“Someone who enjoys novels about the fantastic and hero stories [would like the book],” said Nance.
He said the most surprising and enjoyable aspect of writing the novel was that writing the book felt almost similar to reading a novel.
“There are so many surprises along the way and [the character] makes all kinds of discoveries,” said Nance. “The book almost begins to take on a life of its own and tell its own story.”
He had his students read tidbits of the novel and give him tips as he was writing, he said, so he is fairly confident the book will be appealing to that audience.
“I think that it has sort of a surprise take on a traditional genre,” said Nance, adding that he goes into aspects of the vampire genre that have previously been overlooked. “My take is unique and the style is fun.”