Heather Latter
Those who were left hanging at the end of Claire Hyatt’s novel, “Last of the Spirit Seers,” can read the conclusion now that the Grade 12 student at Fort High has published her second book, “Finding the Lifelight.”
The first book was launched in January, 2014, with Hyatt saying she starting working on the sequel about a month later.
“I ended the first on a cliff-hanger and a few people were giving me their opinion about it, saying you can’t just leave it like that,” the teen recalled, noting she didn’t necessarily intend to continue the story in a second book.
“I wanted to see how the first one went first,” Hyatt reasoned. “If people liked it and wanted more, then I would give the people what they want.”
She said she had an idea where the second book would go.
“But it’s so much harder to write the second book,” Hyatt admitted. “I’d write like 10 pages, then go back and look at the first book and realize I contradicted myself completely.
“So I’d have to erase all those 10 pages because I can’t go back and change the first book.
“And my writing style has changed over the years because I’ve grown up a bit, so I had to try and stay in the same frame of mind,” she noted.
“Last of the Spirit Seers” is about a girl who can see the dead and works together with her two brothers to solve the mystery of why the spirit seers are being murdered.
In “Finding the Lifelight,” Aria and her friends are back to defeat the evil that’s killing the spirit seers.
“With the help of the dead, she plans to defeat the dark force once and for all,” the blurb on the book notes.
“The ghosts have bloody faces, peeling skin, and whisper in the night,” adds. “Aria dreams of flashlight men and wonders if they are the key to finding the Lifelight.”
Hyatt stressed this book concludes the spirit seers’ epic battle between good and evil.
“We find out the name of the evil entity from the first one,” she noted. “So people aren’t left wondering anymore.”
She also said she did a lot of research to make sure it was historically accurate.
“The name of the evil person, he’s actually a mythological thing from a bunch of different cultures,” she explained.
Hyatt said she also introduced a few new characters, as well as some new ghosts.
“In the first one, the ghost stories were based from the local area,” she remarked, noting she used most of her ghost stories and so had to look for outside sources in the second novel.
“When I was halfway through the second one, I posted on Facebook asking if anyone had any ghost stories,” Hyatt recalled.
“Some people actually responded and told me their ghost stories, so I put a few of them in there.”
Hyatt also said she received plenty of positive feedback from her first book.
“I was actually really surprised,” she enthused. “Some people would e-mail and suggest alternate endings for it.
“That was not what I expected from this.”
And Hyatt said she’d be thrilled if her new novel was received the same way.
“I hope that I can get even more people interested, and then they’ll see the first one and get to the second one,” she reasoned.
Both of Hyatt’s books were self-published through www.lulu.com
“It’s an easy process,” she remarked, noting the cover is similar to her first book in that it is a photograph of herself—this time at her cabin.
“The cover is based off of my favourite part in the book,” Hyatt said. “I had the most fun writing that part.
“I was writing really fast,” she added. “I was on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t stop because I was like this is so intense right now.
“I have to keep going.”
Hyatt said the intended audience for the books is pre-teen and teens but many adults read it, too.
“There was so much support,” she remarked.
Hyatt added she enjoys writing as a hobby.
“Sometimes I got writer’s block and I have to stop for about a month, but then something will come to me and then I’ll purge write,” she explained.
And since Hyatt plays court sports and soccer for the Muskies, she didn’t have a lot of time to devote to her book.
“That’s why it took two years to write,” she noted.
“I ended up finishing writing the book at 3 a.m. because I was just on a really good stretch,” she added. “I was pretty tired the next day but it’s a good ending.
“I’m happy with how it all turned out.”
Hyatt will be holding a book-signing for “Finding the Lifelight” this Saturday (Nov. 7) from 1-4 p.m. at Betty’s.
She’s urging people to come and check out the book, and purchase a copy for themselves or as a Christmas gift.
She also will have a few copies of her first novel on hand, as well.
“Last of the Spirit Seers” is available on iTunes, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, with her second novel will be available there soon.
“I still just want writing to be more of a hobby,” Hyatt stressed, noting she’s considering studying biology after high school.
“I feel like if I had to do it, it wouldn’t come to me,” she reasoned. “I just have to let it happen.”
Hyatt said if she does write another book, it will have to be something different.
“I feel kind of guilty just leaving this series,” she admitted. “It’s a little sad to start from scratch because I’ve built up the characters.
“But it would be nice to try something else away from the paranormal ghost stuff.”
While Hyatt has a few other ideas up her sleeve, she said she doesn’t have time to write right now as she will be graduating this school year.
Being so young and having accomplished writing two books, she added she’d like to think she is an inspiration to others.
“If someone wants to write a book, I say go for it,” Hyatt encouraged.
“It’s such an amazing feeling.”
