Dozens of area readers, young and old, crowded into the meeting room of the Union Public Library on Thursday afternoon to pick up signed copies of Decatur author Amanda Tero’s new short story “Quest for Leviathan” which was illustrated by teenage Little Rock artist Natalie Nelson.
Tero has released several short stories since the release of her first novel “Journey to Love” in 2016, including spiritual retellings of fairy tales “Befriending the Beast” and “The Secret Slipper,” but said that her latest work took a little more time to complete than those earlier stories.
The story tells the tale of Anath, a young man who seeks revenge on the Biblical creature Leviathan, after it takes the life of his father. He embarks on a voyage with his crew onto the Mediterranean Sea and finds unexpected answers.
“Leviathan has intrigued me forever. I got the idea for this short story last June and it was actually neat how it worked out,” Tero said. “This one was hard because it takes place in an era that you can’t research in historical documents. It was drawn out until January and that’s when I thought I might illustrate it. I always like to do something different with each book.”
Tero and Nelson’s families first bonded over their Christian ministries while the Teros were living in Louisiana.
“Her family was actually one of the reasons my family moved up here. Her family came down and did a revival for our family and they invited us up here for different conferences and we liked it up here,” Tero said. “We’ve known them for about seven years now.”
Nelson has become one of a few 16-year-olds who has had their artwork published in a book and said that she had mixed emotions when Tero asked if she would provide illustrations for her newest project.
“I’m been drawing for my entire life, but I only got serious about it a few years ago,” Nelson said. “I was little excited and a little nervous at the same time because I was like ‘wow, she actually trusts me enough to let me work on a book, something she’s worked really hard on.’”
Nelson did a lot of online research on Biblical ships and descriptions of what the creature would look like and went through several designs until she was satisfied.
In just a few short years, Tero has gained a loyal following for her work, earning 332 reviews on the Amazon owned website Goodreads with an average rating of 4.17 out of 5.
Although she has written since she was seven, Tero said that she didn’t understand how she could use her writing to spread her message of faith until she was a teenager.
“I actually had to put aside fiction writing for about seven years, and right after we moved up here, I started writing fiction again,” Tero said. “I feel like I have a balance now of how to write an exciting story but still use it for God’s glory.”
Tero and Nelson, who has also gotten into writing, both said that they might collaborate on another project in the future.
Tero read an excerpt from the short story and she and Nelson answered several questions from the audience before they signed copies of “Quest for Leviathan” as well as her other books.
Attendees also enjoyed fruit and cupcakes provided by the Friends of Kemper-Newton Libraries.
For more information about Tero’s books and music, visit withajoyfulnoise.com or amandatero.com.
