You’re a normal teenager navigating the high school halls and complex social jungle. But then you drown at a party, and when you wake up, nothing is the same.
That’s the premise of Thirty Minutes Under, the debut young adult thriller book by Tristin House. Not only is this 15-year-old already an 11th grader at Hillsborough Virtual K-12, but she’s also a published author, and you’re not going to want to put down this page-turner.
“I always remember writing,” Tristin recounts, “but it was in my second-grade class that my teacher had us writing every day. I started to find a passion for writing, and it was a great way to get out how I was feeling.” Tristin began writing her novel when she was 10 years old, but she spent this summer editing because she knew she had something special. When asked how she gets her inspiration, she said, “I just take things from my life, and I add elements of the supernatural.”
In the book, Lorienne Hall is a typical 16-year-old girl who only cares about getting the boy she likes to notice her. However, after drowning at a party and being resuscitated, she wakes up to find she’s part of a secret society and must battle her enemy, Mackenzie Steelburg, to stay alive. Those 30 minutes of unconsciousness change her life forever. She doesn’t know who to trust, but someone special will come to assist her.
Besides her deep love of writing, Tristin knows how important family is: “My mom is really supportive of everything I do. She influenced me to write the book, but I never really was comfortable sharing my thoughts with the world. The whole summer she helped me edit it because she wanted me to be able to tell other people my ideas.”
Tristin has three more novels she plans to publish amid the other amazing things she is doing. She is part of the National English Honor Society and the National Honor Society at Hillsborough Virtual K-12. She started a support group, the Youth Authors Fellowship, to encourage other young writers to pursue their dreams. She continues to advocate for causes she believes in through volunteering.
In her spare time, she transcribes graves, teaches English to students as far as the Ukraine and reviews audiobooks for those with dyslexia. She loves learning languages, and she is currently working to learn Latin and Chinese. She also is a fan of the performance arts, acting, singing and playing musical instruments in her spare time.
Thirty Minutes Under is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Book and Smashwords. To find out more or inquire about freelance services, visit www.tristinhouse.com or follow her on Twitter @TristinHouse.
