Storytelling was always a big part of Karen Arnpreister’s life.
While her kids were growing up, she always opted to come up with a tale of her own rather than one out of a book that she’d have to repeat – making the task less mundane.
But the Manteca resident never thought that she’d take that skill and one day turn it into a novel – such as “Anessia’s Quest” that was just placed for sale on book mega-seller Amazon.
“I just sat down on a whim and started writing a story. I knew how I wanted it to start and I knew how I wanted it to end, but I had no idea what was going to happen in between,” Arnpreister said. “After I got a few chapters into this, never thinking that I’d actually get it done, I had friends tell me that it was good and they had to read the rest.
“That kind of gave me the motivation to keep going.”
Centered on the perspective of a girl born to an alcoholic mother, the book follows the life of Anessia from birth all the way to her deathbed – painting in detail the experiences that she has in her life, both positive and negative, and how she deals with the adversity that comes her way.
But, Arnpreister said, she doesn’t tackle it alone.
With a guardian angel to guide her, Anessia makes it through challenging times and disappointments and gives her somebody that she can always rely on.
“I guess it’s kind of a chick book,” Arnpreister said laughingly. “There were parts of this book that made me laugh when I was writing them, and parts of the book that made me cry when I was reading them. It was kind of like a God download when I got going – the book really wrote itself.
“There wasn’t a point where I wasn’t motivated to keep going. I enjoyed the process, and I’ve gotten really good feedback from people so far. Hopefully those who read it in the future will enjoy it.”
While she looks for an agent to help her through the publishing process, Arnpreister is using a service through Amazon that is print-on-demand so that she can get the book out to people – getting paid only a royalty on each copy that is sold.
Ultimately, she said, just finishing the book was something that was a shock to her, so if it were to get a large printing, it would just be icing on the cake.
“This hasn’t been a life goal of mine, so if it does well, that’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s great too,” she said. “It’s like having another baby. I’m holding this book and thinking ‘Oh my gosh – I actually wrote this.’
“That’s a good feeling to have, and that’s reward enough for me.”
To purchase a copy of the book from Amazon for $11.95 plus shipping, visit www.amazon.com and search for either Anessia’s Quest or Karen Arnpreister.
While her kids were growing up, she always opted to come up with a tale of her own rather than one out of a book that she’d have to repeat – making the task less mundane.
But the Manteca resident never thought that she’d take that skill and one day turn it into a novel – such as “Anessia’s Quest” that was just placed for sale on book mega-seller Amazon.
“I just sat down on a whim and started writing a story. I knew how I wanted it to start and I knew how I wanted it to end, but I had no idea what was going to happen in between,” Arnpreister said. “After I got a few chapters into this, never thinking that I’d actually get it done, I had friends tell me that it was good and they had to read the rest.
“That kind of gave me the motivation to keep going.”
Centered on the perspective of a girl born to an alcoholic mother, the book follows the life of Anessia from birth all the way to her deathbed – painting in detail the experiences that she has in her life, both positive and negative, and how she deals with the adversity that comes her way.
But, Arnpreister said, she doesn’t tackle it alone.
With a guardian angel to guide her, Anessia makes it through challenging times and disappointments and gives her somebody that she can always rely on.
“I guess it’s kind of a chick book,” Arnpreister said laughingly. “There were parts of this book that made me laugh when I was writing them, and parts of the book that made me cry when I was reading them. It was kind of like a God download when I got going – the book really wrote itself.
“There wasn’t a point where I wasn’t motivated to keep going. I enjoyed the process, and I’ve gotten really good feedback from people so far. Hopefully those who read it in the future will enjoy it.”
While she looks for an agent to help her through the publishing process, Arnpreister is using a service through Amazon that is print-on-demand so that she can get the book out to people – getting paid only a royalty on each copy that is sold.
Ultimately, she said, just finishing the book was something that was a shock to her, so if it were to get a large printing, it would just be icing on the cake.
“This hasn’t been a life goal of mine, so if it does well, that’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s great too,” she said. “It’s like having another baby. I’m holding this book and thinking ‘Oh my gosh – I actually wrote this.’
“That’s a good feeling to have, and that’s reward enough for me.”
To purchase a copy of the book from Amazon for $11.95 plus shipping, visit www.amazon.com and search for either Anessia’s Quest or Karen Arnpreister.
