Youth work provided insight for author's inaugural book

Author Erin McCahan near a display of her books at Barnes & Noble in Upper Arlington

•  I Now Pronounce
  You Someone Else
  (Arthur A. Levine,
  272 pages, $16.99,
  for age 12 and older)
  by Erin McCahan

She hates having her picture taken.

In other ways, too, Erin Richards resembles the heroine of her first novel, blushing when attention turns her way.

"In high school, I was extremely shy," said the 42-year-old alumna of Bexley High School. "I rarely spoke."

But Richards, who uses the pen name Erin McCahan, isn't shy about her newly released book for teens: I Now Pronounce You Someone Else .

The young-adult novel drew the interest of Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine Books, which also published the Harry Potter series in the United States.

"I was completely overwhelmed," Richards said.

A fictional, first-person account, I Now Pronounce You Someone Else centers on college student Bronwen Oliver, who reflects on her journey through high school - and finds a true fit with her boyfriend's family.

The book is set in Grand Rapids, Mich. (where Richards was born) and refers frequently to central Ohio.

After Bexley High School, Richards attended nearby Capital University, graduating in 1991 with a degree in professional writing and a minor in religion. She attended the Methodist Theological School in Delaware in 1993.

She worked as a freelance writer, then became a youth minister at St. John's Episcopal Church in Worthington and later at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upper Arlington. She has been writing full time for the past four years.

Richards lives in Upper Arlington with her husband, Tim.

 Q: What's the theme of I Now Pronounce You Someone Else?

A: I think it's about finding a connection. (Bronwen) finds it in her boyfriend and his family ... Sometimes your chosen family is your family of origin, and sometimes it's friends and sometimes it's a mix of the two. But this is the process of this one girl finding out who hers is.

 Q: What's it like writing from the perspective of a college student?

A: It is a deliberate gear shift. One of the things that I didn't like about movies or novels with teenagers is that they sound like adults think they would sound if adults were that age. No, no, no.

I worked with teenagers for 10 years. They have their own rhythm, their own language, their own usage. Once I start doing it, I get into that mindset.

 Q: Did you always want to write for this age group?

A: No. It was just because of youth ministry. ... Youth group was a ball. It was hard work behind the scenes, planning activities that kept the kids engaged and wanting to come back, but I loved that part of it - the creative challenge. And I loved the actual time with the kids, who kept me on my toes and also made me laugh all the time. ...

I had always thought that I would write mainstream women's novels. ... I found out accidentally that I connect really well with teenagers. And my mainstream women's novels were meeting with limited success, so I thought, "Why am I not doing this?"

 Q: Are you working on anything else?

A: A second novel. It's about a 16-year-old girl who's in love with a guy who falls in love with her older sister who is engaged to a man the 16-year-old hates and has been trying to break up since they've been engaged. It's set in Bexley.