3xA MA: Sara Raasch

I feel like authors deserve so much from the readers. I believe that authors are people who really connect with us. It was actually an author who I "sorta" owe my life to. Authors and their words make us feel and they can help us.
In this event, I want to get to know the authors. I’d like to get interviews or blog posts about THEM in connection to their book. Who is the mind behind each author?

For each post, I leave links to connect with the author. Please take the time to use one of those links and leave a message for each author, if you can. It can be towards the book or it can be something as easy as “I love the post you wrote on Out of Time! <33”

The biggest mystery of Sara Raasch is how to pronounce her name! She's so nice and sweet. I remember our twitter conversations about Frozen, Jelsa and when I first watched Avatar: The Last Airbender for the first time (Oh, Zuko!)! And her book, Snow Like Ashes comes in a while, but it's so worth the wait! And that cover *.*

Teen Me! - With Sara Raasch

When Nova asked me to do a guest post about what it was like being Teen Sara, I was instantly swarmed with grandiose plans to write a post of epically moving teenage shenanigans and advice.

"I am a fully realized ahhh-dult type person now!" I thought. "I should be able to wrestle together a few rousing words of inspiration!"

But somewhere in that plan I forgot that even though I am a ripe old biddy of 24, I am nowhere close to being a fully realized ahhh-dult type person, and any post I write will be filled with the same kinds of "WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFEEEE" issues that plagued me at 16.

(16-year-olds worry about that still, right? Or was I weird? I mean, I know I was weird, but was I THAT weird? Don't answer that.)

16-year-old Sara worried about her future on a near-hourly basis (college, boys, career, boys, and sometimes boys). She was insecure about a LOT of stuff (I'd list it all, but dude, who wants to read that? Don't answer that either. YOU ENJOY MY PAIN, DON'T YOU?). She wanted more than she knew what to do with, and the focus of all her wanting was to get her silly little book published. The one about a soldier-girl fighting to free her kingdom from Spring, with characters who felt more like friends than anyone she knew IRL.

And you know what? In all those ways (except, you know college. I still obsess over boys, but my obsession is now focused on one boy in particular), I am still Teen Sara. But the biggest difference between then-me and now-me is what I have learned over the past eight years of life, lessons developed through seeing my silly little dreams come true, from college to getting married to book-publishing. The biggest lesson, the one that makes life infinitely more improved since then (because, yes, IT DOES GET BETTER), is one my main character, Meira, is learning at the moment, actually.

I'm in the process of writing the third book in the SNOW LIKE ASHES trilogy. In one scene, Meira is forced to choose between a number of emotions she's been avoiding dealing with for the entire series -- and her hesitance to deal with them stems entirely from her uncertainty with how she feels about HERSELF. She tells her fears to another character, her concern that she is ill-equipped to deal with the present situation and its monumentality, because how could she choose one emotion over another when she's not even sure she likes who she's become?

These fears were (are) fears 16-year-old Sara dealt with every. single. day. How could I make such huge life choices like college, a career path, hell, even dating (let's be honest, ESPECIALLY dating), when 90% of the time, I wasn't sure I loved who I was? How could I be expected to make decisions about the rest of my life when I didn't like me at that moment?

When Meira presents this fear to the other character, his response is one I want to have branded on my forehead so I see it in the mirror every morning.

He cuts her short with a blunt, no-nonsense attitude. "I will not tolerate that kind of talk from you," he tells her. "Love isn't always a delightful feeling that springs up inside of you. Yes, it can start like that, but love in long relationships -- and that's exactly what you have with yourself, a longterm, committed relationship -- is a decision. It won't always feel wonderful; most of the time, in fact, it's really hard. You have to wake up every day and decide to love who you are, flaws and all, because YOU are all you will ever have."

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. I've done a LOT of stupid things, turned a lot of wrong corners, said/did/didn't do a lot of stuff I wish I hadn't. But the biggest lesson I've learned through all of this is not to let all of these mistakes topple me over into a puddle of self-doubt. All of these mistakes and flaws are MY mistakes and flaws, and each and every one of them makes me this strange, unique specimen you see today. Just as Meira is currently learning, sometimes you have to TELL yourself that you love who you are. It may not feel like it, but love isn't always a feeling -- loving yourself is a decision.

And it is the best choice you will ever make.

I'm hitting high school next year, so I feel like this post was beneficial for me to read! If you've already been through high school, how was your experience? Was it anything like Sara's? And I love how she includes little bits about her book, which I'm very excited for! Eep! (That cover though!)

Enter the giveaway below! Thanks for checking out my blog and remember:  
Be kind to one another. - Ellen

Author Info

Sara's Facebook | Goodreads | Goodreads for her Book | Pinterest | Twitter | Website |

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then -- her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, is coming out Fall 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures. She is represented by Charlotte Sheedy Literary.

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