YORK, Pa. — Author Avery Volz wrote her first two novels when she was still in high school.
This includes the FOX43 Book Club’s August read: ”To The One I Love.”
Now a college senior at Penn State York, the young writer hasn’t let anything get in her way—even demanding college classes.
Volz has known since receiving her first diary at age 8 that she wanted to be an author.
“I try to write every single day, even if it’s just a few sentences," she said. "Some people feel guilty when they don’t work out for a day, but I feel guilty if I don’t write for a day. It’s just such a part of who I am and I love it so much.”
Volz started writing poetry and short stories when she was 10, which quickly developed into plans for a book at age 13. She says that novel will probably never see the light of day, but it was only four short years later when she was just 17 that she authored her first two published books—an experience that heavily influenced her writing.
"'To The One I Love' was inspired by some really hard lessons that I had to learn while I was in high school," Volz reflected. "Just about, you know, learning to love yourself rather than taking what other people say against you.”
While the book is not really about herself, Volz says there are elements of her personality in Abigail's character, like her love for music and writing.
“It’s not autobiographical; it’s definitely a narrative, so there are fictitious elements of it, but I would say there are some very brief inputs of who I am in my characters,” she shared.
It's also a window to what the author went through during quarantine, when the world was locked inside as COVID-19 ran rampant.
“Also just like, how I felt during the pandemic. Like I felt very isolated, but I also felt freer from some of the things I was dealing with in high school," Volz reflected. "It gave me space to heal and to think and to really come into myself. So I think that that’s something Abigail sort of experiences herself.”
Volz wrote "To The One I Love" and its sequel "To Now and Forever" during this time period. It inspired her to incorporate a worldwide illness into Abigail and Colton's story as well, especially because she didn't know at the time if the changes the pandemic wrought would be permanent—the world's new forever.
“That’s what’s going to happen in the future, we’re going to sit down in these history classes, and kids are going to start reading about COVID, and they’re going to say, ‘wow, like, my mom or my dad lived through that. That was crazy; what was that like?’" she mused. "So I wanted to sort of commemorate it in a way. Not that it’s a good thing, but that it’s something that changed a lot of people and I feel like should be remembered for that.”
She says she’s seen her writing style develop over the years since—a marker of just how far she’s come.
“I feel that my style has grown, I feel that it's become a little more adult in the way that I approach writing, because ‘To The One I Love’ and ‘To Now and Forever' are more young adult and kind of growing in that sense," Volz explained. "But I feel like the more I get older, the more my writing is going to get older as well. So I feel like--I was talking with a friend recently, and he said, you know, for those of you who really know who I am, you can see how I've grown in my writing and how there are pieces of me in all of my projects that like, if you didn't know me personally, like you would know. 'Wow. Like she's really growing in that aspect.'”
The author didn't take a formal writing class until college, when she studied with Professor Noel Sloboda.
“One of the biggest things he taught me was that if you know the character, the story will write itself," she shared. "And that's something that has stuck with me ever since I took that first class with him.”
Volz is excited to see how her writing continues to develop over the years.
“And even reflecting, you know, when I'm older, on how much I've accomplished in my writing and feeling very grateful for the opportunities that I've had, to be able to sit down and say ‘I'm a published author,’ which is just crazy and amazing," Volz smiled. "That’s my dream come true.”
For people who want to follow the same dream, the author offers some advice:
“I would say just sit down and write," she declared. "And it's one thing to, you know, say ‘I don't have time for that,’ or ‘I, you know, I don't feel like I could be the best writer.’ You need to stop those thoughts in your head, and you need to say, ‘if something is in my brain and it's turning around and it won't go away, that means it needs to be written and somebody needs to read that story.’ So, I always say, you know, if you're feeling a certain way and it needs to be written, then it, it needs to be. And I'm really excited for people to jump into their own dreams and to realize that they can be an author as well and that we can change the world together one book at a time.”
Volz already has her third book in the works to come out on Oct. 10. "Gray Matter" is a novel that aims to bring awareness to mental health and how it can affect relationships.
“Like we really need to bridge the gap and be cognizant of our mental health and even mental illness and helping people and just being kind," Volz said. "That's what this book is mostly about—just being kind to people. You never know what they're struggling with.”
In "Gray Matter," a famous New York poet finally gets the chance to be with the love of her life—a man who struggles with bipolar disorder.
“But what does that really look like? And how do you support somebody who's struggling?" Volz mused. "And I feel like that's very prevalent in today's society, because mental health, there's a crisis out there. And I really want to end the stigma around mental health.
“I really want to be somebody who changes people's lives through words, and I really want to be somebody who's inspirational in that way.”
Those who want to keep up with the author online can follow along with Volz on her website and Instagram. The writer talks more about her books, writing process, life and advice for up-and-coming authors in the full interview below:
Next month, the Book Club will read “Caledonia” by Sherry V. Ostroff.