LAKELAND, FLORIDA (Monday, June 23, 2014) – Local author Addie Anthony recently debuted her contemporary fantasy novel, “Crystal Uprising: The Awakening,” via self-publishing company iUniverse.

Set in North Carolina, the story centers around Nichole Gibson, a high school senior whose strange dream unravels a family secret about her parents’ death and how she came to live with her Aunt Kristen and Uncle Matthew. An attraction to quiet classmate Isaac leads to discovering supernatural powers, uncovering a lifelong deception by Nichole’s best friend Kyle, and finding true love along the way. The story chronicles love, loss, betrayal and a pathway to Nichole fulfilling her preordained destiny. 
	
Anthony, a 28-year-old married mother of three, spent a year writing the book while also pursuing a criminal justice degree. “Crystal Uprising: The Awakening” published in April and is the first in a series. The second installment is in the works.

Anthony’s inspiration for the book came from a vision of sorts.  

“I kept seeing a girl in my mind, and how she wanted to make something of herself,” Anthony said. “She felt like she couldn’t do anything with her life because she didn’t know what she wanted to do.”

That notion is a bit autobiographical for Anthony, who struggled for years to become a movie actress. 

“I was trying hard to get into movies,” she said. “I was getting in commercials, but I couldn’t get into movies. I finally thought instead of going to auditions, why not try to make my own story that could become a movie? That is how the book started.” 

“Crystal Uprising: The Awakening” is available in print and as an ebook through iUniverse and major online booksellers Amazon.com and Books-A-Million.

About the Author
Addie Anthony was born in Rochester, NY in 1986 and moved to Lakeland at age 10. She has worked as an actress, appearing in commercials for the Disney Channel and in an episode of “G