I'm working on a secular YA fantasy girls' book series

[MomoAdachi]

It's called "Nerissa Sanderson, The Part-Time Mermaid Princess of Sunshine Valley"(long title, I know). It was sort of inspired by "The Princess Diaries". Pretty much every girl fantasizes about a mermaid at one time or another, but what if that wish actually came true? It's sort of a long story, but in a nutshell, 15-year-old Nerissa finds out that her father, whom she always thought was dead, is alive-and a merman! All these different things happen and she ends up sort of being a superhero/town mascot of her hometown of Sunshine Valley, California(the town is a knockoff of Sweet Valley from my favorite guilty pleasure book series). It's obviously not one of those stark-realism teen books, it's just a fun lil fantasy series.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Sounds interesting. I do wonder, though, why you specify it as secular. I would say if it's written by a Christian, it's a Christian book. After all, a person's worldview influences their whole life and everything they do - including creative activities. I'm not criticizing you, just making an observation. I would be interested in seeing a preview, if you feel like posting one.

.rai//

[MomoAdachi]

Actually, I'm not a Christian. I like this board because it's a nice change from other anime/manga fan boards and chatrooms where the members are all very pro-hentai and act really rude and unfriendly. And even if I was a believer, "Nerissa" is just for fun, there's no groundbreaking moral message here, it's basically "The Little Mermaid" meets "Sailor Moon" meets "The Princess Diaries" meets "Sweet Valley High". You get the point. If you're a boy, you probably wouldn't enjoy it, it's totemo girlie.
Here's my official synopsis, in two parts:
Nerissa Sanderson is just your typical, down-to-earth, insecure 15-year-old girl. She's never had a boyfriend, has a huge crush on a boy in her class named Adam Fonda, wears glasses and braces, and is mercilessly teased by the most popular girl in the Sunshine Valley High sophomore class, Teagan Wakefield. On her fifteenth birthday, Nerissa's life changed forever when she found that her father wasn't dead after all, and isn't even human. He's a merman, king of an underwater kingdom called Pacificia, and, not only that, Nerissa is really a mermaid and heir to the throne of Pacifica, and it her responsibility to track down some evil mermaids called Sirens who possess Cursed Pearls. Now Nerissa can transform from her human form, which she considers very plain, to her beautiful mermaid form whenever she wants.
But will she ever learn to accept herself in her human form as well?

When visiting the underwater kingdom of Pacifica for the first time, Nerissa meets her mermaid Ladies-in-Waiting, Coral and Violet, who are fascinated by Nerissa's stories of the human world and want to attend Sunshine Valley High disguised as humans, as well as the handsome, charming, and kind merman Lord Zale.
On her way back to the human world, Nerissa is sighted by local environmentalist and Sunshine Valley Chief of Police Rodney Greenbaum, who persuades her to work for him, and thus, The Part-Time Mermaid of Sunshine Valley is born. But what begins as a top-secret operation soon turns into a matter of internation recognition.
How will Nerissa's longtime human best friend Vanessa Hogland get along with Coral and Violet? How does Nerissa's heart really belong to, Adam Fonda or Lord Zale? Will Nerissa's secret identity as Part-Time Mermaid of Sunshine Valley be revealed?

[Raiden no Kishi]

Well, color me surprised. On a site called the Christian Anime Alliance, you could easily assume the worldview of most of the members. But you are welcome here regardless. And I can certainly understand why you chose this forum. ^_^

As to the book, I'd be interested in it anyway. It sounds like a neat take on the magical girl genre. I'm certainly open-minded enough to give it a try. Genre really doesn't matter to me if it's done well. I'll keep an eye out for it.

.rai//

[MomoAdachi]

Sorry to disappoint ya, but the series is only going to be privately published. I've been writing for pretty much all my life, and I'm finally ready to write a full-blown novel. I'll be happy to send you a copy when I'm finished.

[Esoteric]

It sounds like you've already put a lot of thought into plot and relationship details. That's good. Without a sample of the writting, it's difficult to comment on much else like writing style or characters, however, from the description it does sound like a fun, whimsical, and perhaps slightly surreal, adventure story, and since it seems that's what you're after, you're on the right track. Good luck with this, and welcome to CAA.

[MomoAdachi]

It sounds like you've already put a lot of thought into plot and relationship details. That's good. Without a sample of the writting, it's difficult to comment on much else like writing style or characters, however, from the description it does sound like a fun, whimsical, and perhaps slightly surreal, adventure story, and since it seems that's what you're after, you're on the right track. Good luck with this, and welcome to CAA.

Arigato! Yeah, I wrote a "character bible" first with information on all of the characters. Detail is very important with such a far-fetched premise, I try very hard to avoid "plot holes". It was fun, 'cause I had to choose a birthday for each char, and I gave most of them the b-days of my friends, family, and fave celebrities. "Fun, whimsical, and slightly surreal" is definately what I'm going for. I think that all of the entertainment I enjoy has influenced Nerissa from the very beginning: Disney, magical girl anime/manga like "Sailor Moon", YA book series like Meg Cabot's works, Replica by Marilyn Kaye, and of course Sweet Valley High(if you were a tween of the '80s or '90s, you know you read that mediocre yet addictive series, too!). I like light fantasy, I think the whole Judy Blume stark realism thing just isn't for me.