The Secrets of The Vanmers Blog Tour: Author Guest Post!

Hey all! Today, I've got an exciting guest post for you all as a stop in The Secrets of the Vanmers blog tour! This is book two in the Argetallam Saga by sixteen-year-old YA fantasy author, Elisabeth Wheatley and you can find out more about it near the bottom of the post. Enjoy! :)

Guest Post: How did you come to write?

It’s rather a long story, so I suppose I should start at the beginning.

Way back (16 years ago) when my parents were new parents, they, like so many others, made a set of resolutions about their children. One of these was that there would be little/no television (if you came to our house today, you wouldn’t believe this, but that’s how it was then). Instead, they turned to an archaic and unheard of method of entertainment for their children: books.

Over the years, we accumulated various picture books that me and my brother Joshua would force our mother to read out loud over and over again. One of my favorite books was called Corgiville Fair. It is the story of a corgi (who lives in a town populated by cats, bogarts, and, of course, corgis) who is training his racing goat for the big upcoming race at the fair. I happened to have a pet goat at the time, Count, and the fancy took me and so I wrote (and proudly illustrated) a very short piece of fan-fiction by re-writing the tale with my own goat and my dog Beauty instead of the corgi. I bound the “book” with duct tape and we still have it. The oldest of my three younger brothers wouldn’t let me throw it out if I wanted to, he thinks my early literary attempts are too funny. Over the years, I toyed with writing short and ridiculous stories, but never really took writing too seriously.

When I was eleven, my cousins coaxed, cajoled, then practically coerced me to watch what I was certain would be an unbearably silly movie. It was Disney’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. To my shock, I loved the film. I got the books on audio discs and I loved them, too. I wrote some hilarious fan-fiction for them, but I am determined that those stories shall never see the light of day.

Some time in that same year, I ended up getting the misty concept that would solidify, morph, and ultimately transform into the idea for the Argetallam Saga. I wrote...let’s say dozens of story beginnings and ideas before I started writing what would become The Key of Amatahns. I’m not sure where the idea came from to write it, though I think it had a lot to do with the fact I heard that C. S. Lewis’ Narnia was based on a world he’d created when he was a boy.

I considered the idea of becoming a writer off and on for a year or two. Then I decided that it was impractical and that I would be a veterinarian. That decision didn’t last long. I was working for our veterinarian at his clinic (December 23, 2009, I remember because I was worried about Christmas) when for no reason, in the middle of a surgery, I fainted dead away. It wasn’t the blood, nobody’s sure what it was, but six hours, an ambulance ride, a trip to two different hospitals, and a few blood draws later—I was forever cured of any and all veterinary or medical ambition.

So...I decided that I would be impractical. I went to work on The Key of Amatahns and...well, I’m sure you can figure out the rest. : )

More About The Book!


After her adventures with the Key of Amatahns, sixteen-year-old Janir Caersynn Argetallam returns home to find Brevia on the brink of war with a neighboring country, Stlaven. Her foster-father and even Saoven—a brave young elf warrior—think it will be safe at the castle where Janir grew up. However, while trying to unravel a looming mystery, Karile—self-taught wizard and Janir’s self-appointed best friend—becomes certain that there is danger in the mountains surrounding Janir’s childhood home and that it has something to do with Stlaven’s most powerful family, the Vanmars…

You can also watch the book trailer HERE!

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

PS: Thanks so much for the great guest post, Elisabeth! :)