Our Young Adult columnist, Nicole O’Dell, took a slight detour this month and profiled a non-fiction author with a passion for teen girls. We hope you enjoy and send this post to the young women in your life.

I’m breaking some rules this month…I’m not going to be talking about fiction because I need to introduce someone to you. I think you’ll all forgive me, once you meet her, though. She’s an incredible young woman with a great journey-to-publication story and a real heart for girls and young women: Shannon Primicerio.

Here’s an interview Shannon gave just for you:

Shannon, can you tell us about yourself and your books?

I’m a twenty-something author to teenage girls who writes non-fiction books and Bible studies. While I write on a wide range of topics, all of my books are about applying the Bible to the drama of real life. There is so much drama in the life of a teenage girl—especially when you involve other (hormonal) girls and cute (and not so cute) guys. My passion is to teach girls how to work their faith out in the midst of the exciting, confusing and frustrating circumstances of teenage life.

I totally agree about the drama. Really, you and I share a vision. It’s pretty neat that you’re tackling the non-fiction, and I’m hitting it with fiction. Proves that God uses each part of the body for it’s own purpose but with the same end goal.

Will you describe your journey to publication?

I have a non-traditional publishing story. As a 20-year-old college student, I attended a local writers’ conference with a proposal in hand. Honestly, I thought I was going to be shredded. In two of my publisher appointments I was. But one editor loved what she saw and took a risk and believed in me enough to pitch the book to her team. Three months later, I had a book contract. My first book, The Divine Dance, got the attention of a big name author who took me under her wing and introduced me to her agent. Things moved quickly from there and I wrote ten books in four years. At the end of that crazy whirlwind I intended to take a year off to focus on speaking and to catch my breath. It’s been two and half years since the release of my last book, but I’m shopping ideas again and I’m ready to get back to writing.

Congratulations! I applaud you for your success and for your break. It’s important to listen and know when we need to rest from a certain thing and focus elsewhere.

Your ministry has expanded of late. Can you tell us about She Seeks?

In 2009 I began writing for She Seeks, the 20-something division of Proverbs 31 Ministries. Once a month I write an article for them and once a month I vlog on a topic someone else writes about. The thing I love about She Seeks is that it’s a place where young women can be real. The issues facing the 20-something woman are a bit different from those facing older women. I like to describe She Seeks as the perfect place for the woman who doesn’t fully fit in a traditional women’s ministry. We focus on topics like life in transition, owning your faith and finding your passion in life. Things we don’t talk about include husbands and kids (although there is nothing wrong with husbands and kids). Our target market is the college woman or the just out of college woman.

So, Starbucks, stilettos and sushi with some scripture thrown in there? It may sound like I’m joking, but from my vantage point with six kids—three of them being two—I’m just jealous.

What makes you want to minister to the age group you do?

For me, my faith became real in my teens and I began living out my calling in my twenties. Because of that I have a strong desire to help other women do the same things. Growing up in the church can actually make it harder to make your faith your own since relationship with Christ is often defined by the way your family or your denomination does things. So, a lot of young women tend to walk away from their faith and give up on Jesus in the process of becoming an adult. That doesn’t need to happen. There is a way to love and serve the same Jesus your family does while still having a faith that seems authentic to you. I want to see girls become passionate about Christ and His work in their lives. I also want to encourage girls to pursue the dreams God has placed in their hearts even if people think those things are wild, crazy or impossible. I don’t think many people really thought I would become an author at the age of 20. But I did—and because of that I want to champion the cause of young women who also dream of doing great things for God while they are still young.

You just got back from a trip. Can you tell us about that?

I recently went to Bogota, Colombia with Compassion International. I’ve been a Compassion sponsor since 2006 and I have always loved their ministry. But there was nothing like getting to visit Compassion projects and see their work first hand. I even got to meet one of my sponsor children. To read more about that experience (and even watch part of it unfold) go here.

What do you do for mindless fun?

My husband and I are avid New York Yankees fans, so we watch a lot of baseball in our house. I also enjoy reading and watching a little TV.

What is your number one piece of advice for a teenage girl?

My number one piece of advice for a teenage girl comes from Jeremiah 29:13. Seek God with your entire heart. God promises to be found by those who seek Him so don’t stop searching for Him even when He seems far away or your circumstances seem beyond fixing. Jesus Christ truly is the way, the truth and the life. If you can really get a handle on that when you are young it doesn’t matter what life will throw at you. You will be prepared.

How about for the mother of a teenager?

Let your daughter be herself. Allow her to develop her faith and utilize her spiritual gifts in ways that suit her personality. Her way of serving the Lord might look different than your way of doing it. She might love participating in a small group while you prefer one-on-one accountability. Encourage her to seek God and let her determine exactly what that looks like. A long morning quiet time routine probably won’t work for a teenage girl. Let her find her own way to get in the Bible every day—even if it means getting devotional text messages or something you would hate. Encourage her to find what works for her and she will have an easier time taking her faith beyond high school.

Wonderful advice to both the girls and their moms, Shannon!

Do you have a life verse you’d like to share with us?

My verse for the past two years has been Psalm 18:19 which says, “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” I was going through a really rough season in 2009 and the Lord brought this verse to me over and over again. I love it because it reminds me that it is God who brings us to spacious and victorious places in life and He always rescues us no matter how overwhelming our troubles seem.

Amen.

How can we find you on the web?

You can find me at www.beingagirlbooks.com Or, if you want a more frequent dose of me you can find me at www.beingagirlbooks.com/blog, www.twitter.com/sprimicerio and www.facebook.com/sprimicerio I love connecting with my readers online and I always try to answer emails, tweets and FB messages in a timely manner. Also, be sure to check out www.sheseeks.org.

And be sure to tune in to Teen Talk Radio this Thursday at 10pm EST. Shannon will be my guest with a back-to-school theme.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us. You are doing some wonderful things, Shannon.

Now, She Readers, Shannon has been so gracious to provide us with three giveaways! She’s offering three readers a signed copy of one of the following books:

Simply leave a comment to enter to win one of these amazing books by Shannon Primicerio.

I promise I’ll be back next month with some YA fiction, but I’m sure you’ll agree that this was worth the departure from our typical posts.

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Ever wonder where authors like Tosca Lee get their ideas? No need to wonder any longer. She dishes on the video below:

So far Tosca has explored the inner lives of two of the Bible’s most despised characters: a demon, and Eve. Any guess as to the subject she’ll tackle next? No need for conjecture, she spills the beans:

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Review by Melanie Chitwood

Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Patillo

Even though I’m not a huge Jane Austen fan, I loved this entertaining and well-written novel.  I’m betting that if you are a Jane Austen fan, you’ll really love this book!

Emma Grant’s expectations of happiness are shattered by her husband’s unfaithfulness and coworker’s betrayal.  She blames Jane Austen and her parents’ faith for “filling [her] head with an unshakeable belief in happy endings.”  With a shattered marriage and ruined career, she runs away from her present problems to perhaps find the happy ending she longs for in London.

Emma sees an opportunity to resurrect her academic career in London if she can find the lost letters of Jane Austen.  She meets Mrs. Gwendolyn Parrott, the supposed keeper of the lost letters, who requires Emma to complete a series of tasks to prove she’s worthy of the letters.  While Emma travels from one historic Austen location to another, we wonder if Mrs. Parrott is simply a crazy old lady, or truly the gateway to the literary and personal happiness that has eluded Emma.

Along the way, Emma uncovers treasures about Austen and also about her own heart as she renews a connection with a former best friend Adam, who just might turn out to be a romantic interest.  While Emma doesn’t get the happy ending she imagined, she finds that happiness has more to do with the happiness inside her than with her circumstances.

The pacing of this novel is quick, and the main character likable.  I’m not a big fan of purely historical fiction, but I did enjoy the blend of historical and contemporary adventure/romance in this novel.  I went on to read the next in this series, Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, and enjoyed it as well.

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When I wrote HAVAH, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I had so many questions.

Where was Eden? Where was the garden within it? Is it missing now because of the flood? Is it in another dimension? (Am I out of my mind to even ask such a question?)
What would it look like to walk with God in the cool of the afternoon? (Would God have had a physical body?)
What does a woman think about a talking snake?
Did other animals “talk?”
Did Adam give the animals species or proper names?
How do two innocents discover sex? I mean, without benefit of locker room talk and all.
Had Adam been tempted before Eve came along?
So where was Adam, after all, when Eve took that fateful bite?
Did they know something had changed immediately after eating it? Did they immediately feel themselves begin to die?
What did that fruit taste like?
Did they know what had happened before their coming into the world?
Did Eve have any vicarious memory of her life before her creation?
How long did they live there before the fateful fruit-eating day?
How did it happen, being chased from the garden?
Where did they go? Did they ever stand at the gate and look back and try to return?
Where did they learn how to make sacrifices?
How did they learn basic skills like storing plants, fire-making, tool-making?

And more questions that only a sick mind like mine can wonder:
Was there truly no death anywhere, or only no spiritual death? If there was no physical death, how did bugs not get stepped on and die? How did birds not eat worms?
The animals that were made into the skins for Adam and Eve to wear–did Adam and Eve know them? By name? Were they friends?

And more, practical questions that arose the farther I got:
After their expulsion, did they eat meat?
Did it rain?
What did they have for guidelines for living in the absence of law, role-models, social mores?
Why exactly did God not favor Cain’s sacrifice?
Did Cain know he was killing Abel?
How old was Abel when he died? Was he married? How old was Cain?
What did God’s voice sound like to Cain?
What was Cain’s mark?

Where was Nod?
How did Cain build a city, being a wandering nomad?
One I’m asked often: Where did Cain’s wife come from?
How many children did Adam and Eve have?
Did Eve outlive Adam?

And more yet:
Did Eve have days, moments, or years of despair that they would ever be restored?
Were Adam and Eve faithful to one another?
Were they equals? When did the roots of subjugation begin?
Were their children godly? Were they, by our standards, pagan?
What was the population of the earth at the time of Adam’s death?
Did Eve ever reconcile who the serpent was?
Did they ever try to return to the garden?
Did they ever see Cain again?
What secrets remained to them alone, that they might not have passed on?

I think I single-handedly drove at least one pastor, two scholars and one theologian all crazy. And I wondered again if I were unhinged to wonder the things that I do.

In the end, I can’t claim that I know the answers. I chose the most plausible conclusions based on my research or those solutions that worked best for the story. Each of these items is answered, to the best of my ability for now, within the pages of HAVAH.

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