Fans of Sinclairville author J. Andersen’s Destiny by Design trilogy have just four more days to wait for the release of the final book in the series, “Legacy’s Impact.” On Thursday, Andersen, the award-winning author of several young adult novels, is launching her latest book and sharing the final story of the characters that have been a very real part of her life for the past six years.

A former middle and high school English teacher, Andersen began writing full time about 10 years ago when she decided to stay home to raise her three children. While she was still teaching in 2006, she wrote her first book, “At What Cost,” about a high school student faced with the choice of abortion or teen pregnancy. After a long but successful journey, the book was published in 2012 by a small company, Astraea Press. “At What Cost” became an award-winning finalist in the USA Book News 2012 “Youth Issues” category and a finalist in the first annual RONE awards Young Adult Reward of Novel Excellence.

During that time, Andersen was also busy working on a second book, “The Breeding Tree,” which fulfilled a life-long dream of hers. “I’ve always wanted to write a dystopian book, and I’ve always loved dystopian literature,” she said. Andersen, who grew up reading dystopian classics like George Orwell’s “1984,” eventually found herself teaching that novel and others like it, such as Lois Lowry’s “The Giver.” In writing “The Breeding Tree,” Andersen created her own dystopian world, although she never thought it would turn into the trilogy that her readers have grown to anticipate.

In Andersen’s series, the characters live in a world governed by The Institute, which is responsible for all procreation. “In this society, women are not able to conceive at all. When babies are born, all of the eggs are removed from the females, so you have to apply to have a child created for you. Once The Institute has a perfect child created, then they give the baby to you,” said Andersen.

In the second book of the series, “The Gene Rift,” Kate discovers who the father of the baby is. “Kate lives in a society of test tube babies only,” Andersen pointed out. “Relationships and intimacy are nil here, so she discovers who the father is, and it’s not who she was hoping it would be.”

Not long after Andersen released book two of the series, she wrote “Reckless Destiny,” a novelette that serves as the prequel to the Destiny by Design series. She said, “The prequel backs the whole society up by about 80 years so that you can understand how things began. One of the characters in the first book is Kate’s great grandmother, so you see her story and how they started making all the women infertile.”

In 2016, Andersen finished writing the third and final book of the trilogy, “Legacy’s Impact,” which will be released on Thursday. “The third book is the epic battle between the rebels and The Institute,” Andersen explained, hesitant to give away any more of the plot than that. Although it is a satisfying process to write the final book of the series, Andersen pointed out that it’s not without its challenges.

“When you’re writing the third book or final book of a series, you have to make sure that everything connects or relates back to book one,” Andersen explained. “It all has to line up — no loose ends. For me, I wasn’t originally planning on writing a series, so I didn’t necessarily have everything planned out. I didn’t have all the back stories of all the characters, but when I got to the third book, things just started to click together…I think sometimes the whole story is subconscious in me, and I might not bring it all out until the right time. I had no idea that this particular character was involved in this or that until I had to flesh it out. It was a challenge, but it’s been fun to see why or how this person is related to that person.”

Breaking into the publishing world

Writing the final book of the series is not the only challenge Andersen has overcome on her journey to becoming an award-winning novelist. In an industry dominated by the New York Times bestseller list and major publishing houses like HarperCollins and Penguin Random House, it can be difficult for a first-time writer to get published. No one knows this better than Andersen.

“When I was first looking to get an agent with my first book, I just cold-queried,” Andersen explained. “You write a letter here and there and send them off, and hope somebody likes what you have. That was a challenging process…I had 186 agent rejections before I landed an agent! I’m persistent, that’s for sure,” she laughed.

Andersen’s literary agent is Steve Hutson of WordWise Media in California. “He signed me with the first book, and I’ve been with him ever since,” Andersen said. “He acts as the middle man, and he has all the connections in publishing. He knows who the editors are at what publishing houses and who might like my work. He sold the first book of the trilogy, ‘Breeding Tree’ to Brimstone Fiction, out of Chicago, which was an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing at the time.” Since Andersen’s “Breeding Tree” was published, Brimstone Fiction has become its own publishing house and has continued to publish Andersen’s series.

Now, Brimstone Fiction has afforded Andersen yet another opportunity that she did not expect. “My publishing house has actually offered me a job! I wasn’t expecting it, and I wasn’t really looking for it. But I’m actually working with some of the other authors they publish and walking them through the process. I’m doing a bit of editing, some marketing. I really enjoy it. It’s a huge learning curve! I have no marketing background, so I’m learning as we go along. I’ve been doing this since March, and I’m now learning the balance of working and writing again,” Andersen said.

The journey from manuscript to print

Despite the challenge of landing a literary agent, Andersen made a very conscious choice in choosing the traditional book publishing route, as opposed to self-publishing. “I had 186 agent rejections. It was a long process and sometimes really discouraging. A lot of people were like, ‘Why don’t you just self-publish?’ For me, that wasn’t what I wanted to do or what I needed to do,” Andersen reflected. “I’m a decent editor, but I knew that I would not be able to put out the quality of work that I would if I was working with professionals who do this…I have a different goal, and in having a different goal, I have to take a different path.”

For Andersen and other authors that choose traditional publishing, that path involves a lot of editing and rewriting. And rewriting. And more rewriting. “I have lots of editors,” Andersen laughed. “I go through my own 10 or more revisions, just tweaking it to make sure I like what’s there, seeing where the story needs more, grammar. I have beta readers, who are a couple of good friends of mine who are English teachers…I have a couple of family members, but you have to be careful with family, because sometimes they’re just not mean or critical enough!”

Andersen continued, “I have a couple of author friends that I’ve met online who will read for me. When I send it to my agent, he has an editor who will go through it. They’ll send it back to me, and I’ll go through all of their feedback and rewrite. He’ll then send it out to the publishing house, where you’re assigned an editor, so then you go through several back and forth edits with a developmental editor. Once they’re good with it, it will go to a copy editor for grammar, and then you go through it several more times. It’s a huge process, but I love the editing process! It’s actually my favorite part – a lot of my writer friends think I’m crazy!”

Andersen’s launch for “Legacy’s Impact”

Although the timeline for every writer is different, Andersen said it typically takes her about eight months to write a manuscript, and then a good two years for the editing and rewriting process. On Thursday, “Legacy’s Impact” will be released to Amazon and it will be available as an e-book and a print edition, like Andersen’s other books. Also on Thursday, Andersen will be hosting an online launch party on her Facebook page, J. Andersen Books, where readers can take part in activities and give-aways for the new book.

Connecting with readers is important to Andersen, who has multiple ways for fans to interact with her books. “I like to be really interactive – I think that’s key,” Andersen explained. “I want the readers to see that I’m not just a profile pic asking you to buy my books. I’m having fun and I’m interested in your life!” To that end, Andersen has a website with a blog, jandersenbooks.com, and fans can follow her on Twitter @JVDLAndersen, and Instagram: jandersenbooks. Andersen also enjoys actual face-time with her fans, as she hosts book signings at area libraries and has reached out to many school districts in the county about the latest book in her Destiny by Design series.

Coming soon

J. Andersen fans need not despair, for there is more to look forward to after “Legacy’s Impact” is released on Thursday. “There’s a new book I’m working on! I call it my ‘post-apocalyptic road trip,'” Andersen chuckled. “This book really focuses on family and who becomes our family. Is it the immediate people that we’re related to or can it be anybody?”

Andersen’s new book is already in the hands of her agent’s editors, and she looks forward to continuing to work on it after the launch of “Legacy’s Impact.” “I compare it to Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ and Libba Bray’s ‘Going Bovine,'” Andersen explained. “It’s a little bit of those with some humor tossed in!”

Young Adult Fiction: a growing genre

According to Andersen, her target age range for the series is 12 and up, although she encourages parents of younger readers to be the ultimate judges of whether or not a book may be appropriate. As a former middle and high school English teacher, Andersen knows a thing or two about the young adult genre, and has enjoyed watching its growth over recent years. In a culture seemingly obsessed with screen time, Andersen and many others have noticed an uptick in the young adult reading and the rise in popularity of the local library.

“Thanks to the young adult genre, young adults today read more today than kids when I was in school,” Andersen remarked. “Since that young adult genre really exploded in the early 2000s, teens and pre-teens actually had something to read that’s just for them. Even though you’ll find that there’s a huge push for e-books, young adults today actually prefer print. Libraries have become a huge gathering place for young adults. If they’re (libraries) doing things right, they’re going to gear more programs and books toward young adults because they want stuff to devour!”