NORWICH – A lifetime of reading, writing and a vivid imagination has paid off for local author Nicole Wake, who has reason to celebrate as the characters she developed have come to life with the recent publication of her first novel.
Wake’s fictional novel, “A Rose from Beneath,” tells the story of young 17-year-old Kayley, who amidst the hardships of adolescence, also dabbles in witchcraft and wants nothing more than for real powers in the practice of black magic. Upon wishing for someone who can provide her with a sense of real witchcraft, Kayley meets Julie, a California native who’s forced to rekindle her magical abilities to save the world from destruction by an evil coven that took her brother’s life.
“I feel a lot of love stories are a same in the sense,” said Wake in describing some of the young adult themes of her novel. “It’s hard to come up with something new; I wanted something more complex.”
Wake, a Norwich High School alumni, graduated from Oneonta State University with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition in 2009 and more recently has earned an advanced degree in nutrition. “A profession in nutrition seemed more practical than writing,” she said. However, “writing has always been my passion,” she added.
“It’s supernatural; you don’t have to stick within the realm of reality. You can create your own reality and make it seem real,” she explained.
Wake has certainly proven that writing remains her primary passion. She began writing short stories at the age of 10 and cultivated her writing style throughout college. Although “A Rose from Beneath,” which originated as a story written for a national online writing contest, is Wake’s first published work, she has no intention of it being her last, she said. Plans are to make the book part one of a three-book series; exciting news for her growing fan base as it means more of her work will hit book shelves in the near future. Currently, Wake’s in the process of writing a sequel to her novel and hopes are to have it edited and published by spring, 2013.
Inspiration for “A Rose from Beneath” evolved from years of reading the work of famed author Nicholas Sparks, who wrote several popular books and their movie adaptations that include “The Lucky One,” “A Walk to Remember,” and “The Notebook.” But subconsciously, Wake said she was partly inspired by the 1990s television teen drama “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which has given her stories a unique twist and shows readers that “the answers to your questions aren’t always obvious.”
Wake’s self-published novel is available for purchase on Amazon.com and Createspace.com. Digital copies are also available through Amazon. For more information, visit http://nicolewake.wix.com/a-rose-from.