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Published author at 21
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jessica Burkhart loves her horses. But scoliosis — and subsequent spinal fusion surgery — ended her equestrian career before she hit her teen years.
So, she started writing ... and writing ... and writing.
More than 100 magazine articles later, the former Dieterich resident is releasing her first book. “Take the Reins” is the first installment in the eight-part Canterwood Crest series. It is being released Jan. 27 by Simon & Schuster.
The protagonist in “Take The Reins” and subsequent tales of Canterwood Crest is Sasha, a small-town girl who attends an exclusive Connecticut boarding school. Burkhart said Sasha has more than a little bit of Jessica in her.
“Sasha is your everygirl,” Burkhart said. “She’s super hardworking and tries to be everybody’s friend.
“I think I put a lot of myself into Sasha, more than the other characters,” Burkhart added.
In “Take The Reins,” Sasha moves from her comfortable small town to Canterwood Crest, an exclusive boarding school where three girls try to dominate the others, including our heroine.
Burkhart, now 21, moved to Dieterich from the Nashville, Tenn., suburb of Goodlettsville with her family in 1998 in hopes of receiving spinal surgery at Shriners’ Hospital in St. Louis. She had been diagnosed with scoliosis in second grade and wore a back brace until she finally had surgery at age 13.
“My spine was starting to press on my heart and lungs,” she said.
Burkhart attended sixth and seventh grades at Sacred Heart School in Effingham before her surgery. After her surgery in 2000, she was home-schooled for the rest of her junior high and high school career.
The writing began as a hobby and as psychological compensation for her inability to ride horses as a result of the surgery.
“It was devastating to me not to be able to ride any longer,” she said. “It was my passion — my life for so many years.
“I started writing after my surgery,” she added. “I was laid up for a year after my surgery. I needed a new hobby, so I turned to writing.”
The family moved to Lake City, Fla., in the spring of 2003. While finishing her last two years of high school, Burkhart was able to take enough courses at Lake City Community College to receive an associate’s degree at the same time she received a high school diploma in 2005.
She then attended Florida State University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Since then, she has remained in Tallahassee as a full-time writer. Her magazine credits include Girls’ Life, The Writer and Guideposts Sweet 16.
She wrote the first draft for “Taking The Reins” in the fall of 2006 and posted it on her blog in hopes of attracting a literary agent. She is now working on the first draft of the fourth book in the series, which is aimed at a middle school-age audience.
Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.
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