By L. Ryan Storms
Reading-based young adult fantasy author L. Ryan Storms has released five books in the last six years. All take place in fantastical settings and feature ambitious teens ready to save their worlds with impossible magic. Indeed, Storms is used to crafting stories that rarely have much real-world semblance beyond highlighting human nature at its worst and its best.
In her newest release, titled Slip, Storms has pivoted to a topic she holds near — overcoming anxiety, or at least learning to live with it. Slip is a young adult romantic comedy that uses magical realism to emphasize the feeling of panic attacks, as well as light comedy to help readers better understand how to manage that anxiety. The story features a high school junior with crippling anxiety who slips 9 minutes and 53 seconds into the past with each panic attack, and who also happens to be falling in first love, which comes with a significant amount of fear and uncertainty.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2022, more than 1 in 4 Americans had symptoms of an anxiety disorder, and the number of American adolescents ages 13 to 18 experiencing anxiety is even higher. Storms says her own long-term battle with anxiety wasn’t enough to push her to write about it, but that watching her teenage children struggle daily with it opened her eyes to the enormity of the problem and the need for someone to champion on behalf of anxious teens everywhere.
Slip, she says, was born of the desire to empower increasingly anxious kids in a world that demands so much. “I desperately want teens with anxiety to know they don’t have to hide their disorder from the world, that having an anxiety disorder is not a fault, and that sharing their fears and worries with people who love them actually makes them stronger individuals,” Storms says before adding, “Plus, some of the most relatable moments in fiction are the ones we cringe at, which is why romcom is such a popular genre.”
The novel will be released on Tuesday, April 15, independently published through RaineStorms Press. Kirkus Reviews calls Storms a natural storyteller and says Slip is “a thoughtful and satisfying blend of magical realism and romance.” Similarly, IndieReader calls Slip a “compassionate exploration of mental health, first love, and supportive relationships,” and says that Slip’s “magical realism, seamless prose, and lovable characters elevate it from endearing to memorable and evocative.”
Slip is available for pre-order in both e-book and paperback format through all major retailers. Pre-orders can also be ordered through Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown, PA, which will host an Author Q&A with L. Ryan Storms on Saturday, April 19, from 1-3 p.m. All are welcome. For more information on L. Ryan Storms, featured reviews, excerpts, future signings, or to order signed copies directly from the author, visit her website at www.lryanstorms.com.
The post Fantasy Author Pivots to a Serious Topic for New Release; Firefly Bookstore Hosts Q&A appeared first on BCTV.
Source: bctv