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Young adults will love “Heart of the Beast” by A.P. Stenstrom
About the Heart of the Beast: On a continent-sized island, four dragons must learn to work together to defeat a rising evil. These four unlikely heroes will have to reveal their secrets and who they are to have a chance of victory. One secret might put the whole dragon world in peril.
Best for young adults: This book has some scenes of heavy amounts of violence, gore, and genocide.
Click here to read the first chapter • Learn more about the book here!
About the author: Hello! My name is A. P. Stenstrom. I am 23, and am a young author who just wants to share some stories with the world! I write with anthropomorphic characters to help tell stories of great adventure, strong families, and even heartbreaking tragedies. I hope you all enjoy the stories I make and will continue to publish! I graduated recently from Hofstra University in New York, and also studied abroad at Oxford. In addition to writing books and job hunting, I also draw and illustrate stories. Click here to find that work on Bluesky.
The current title for my next work, “Silver Circlet,” is a young adult two-book series about a hidden princess and a wounded warrior who find strength in one another. The working title of a separate book is “Pirate Story” (simple, I know lol), which is about an aristocratic son who runs away to find his true family on the high seas. I love writing these!
Scroll down for our Q&A with Avery!
Author A.P. Stenstrom
The brilliance behind Heart of the Beast
InkandescentKids: What advice do you have for kids who want to become writers?
Avery: Number one thing — do NOT use AI. There are no shortcuts when it comes to writing and creating. Every skill is like a muscle, you need to work out and keep trying to gain strength in it.
InkandescentKids: What is the most important thing you’ve learned about writing?
Avery: There are so many important things I have learned about writing and how to build that skill up. Though, currently the main one I am always relearning is to not put so much doubt and pressure on myself. I am not writing the next Shakespeare play for an audience that is not lining up for the playhouse. I am writing for me, and if others want to join in and read along, they can. Bottom line, I need to stop overthinking and just be myself.
Tell Inkandescent Kids about Heart of the Beast!
Avery: Heart of the Beast is a Middle Grade to Y/A adventure about four unlikely dragons that must trust one another to save the world. But to me personally, it represents a piece that saved me as a kid. I did not have the best school environment growing up, especially in middle school. Everything was just chaos and out of control around me. So, instead of falling into the chaos that surrounded me, I poured myself into this story. Every character represents a different piece of me during that time. Yes, even the main villain. Writing became my way to deal with my emotions in a healthy way, which I still do with my current works.
InkandescentKids: How do you get the ideas for your books?
Avery: It wasn’t just one idea to be true. It was over months of brainstorming, puzzling things together, but the spark for the book’s final form was thanks to Tui T. Sutherland’s book series Wings of Fire.
InkandescentKids: What do you hope readers will take away from your story?
Avery: Mainly entertainment, but also to not feel alone in the world. I felt that way for too long and don’t wish for others to feel that way as well. If my work causes at least one person to feel less lonely or even just a moment of enjoyment, then I have succeeded.
InkandescentKids: What was it like to see your work published?
Avery: To be honest, I had a panic attack before hitting that self-publish button. I was horrified and so worried that people would hate my work, hate me! But then I hit that button, and guess what? The world didn’t implode! Yippee! That’s when the joy hit, and then the excitement! I was overjoyed at what I did. I published my own book! Then my folks and I had cake to celebrate.
Check out Avery’s works in progress: Read the rest of this entry »
