Richenda

This is my blog and home base for novels and short stories that I’ve been writing since circa 2006. It is set in a fictional world I started creating in 2001, complete with a child’s version of a fantasy map for the major country, Rhetia (pronounced ree-het-ee-ah). As a Californian, plate tectonics played a major role in this map. This single country made up of seven major islands has morphed into an entire fictional world, complete with fictional history, geography, and politics.

Most of these novels and short stories are focused around gymnastics. I started gymnastics at age 4, but didn’t get past recreational levels. When I was 10, my sister saw a family friend doing flips and thought it looked so cool. Our mom enrolled us in gymnastics again. When my sister was selected for Preteam a few months later, I decided I wanted to compete, too, and worked really hard to get there. I taught myself walkovers and beam dismounts on our mats at home. I stretched every day and got both my front splits.

Until I left for college at eighteen, everything I did revolved around gymnastics. Practice could never come soon enough. On my off days, I worked on my own. I watched the Olympics, World Championships, National Championships, anything available on the TV. I read autobiographies by Olympic gymnasts. But I couldn’t find good gymnastics fiction that felt realistic to my experiences or the real ones I’d heard and read about. So, I decided to create my own novels. I found out that writing can be as fun as reading. 

Over the course of two years, from age 16 to age 18, I completed three novel drafts and made significant headway on a fourth. These are early drafts of Niana, and what I’d now call early drafts of the first two Lilly books and a prequel. I have entirely rewritten all of these novels, especially since I handwrote the originals. As of this writing (2023), I still do not have a full rewrite of Niana, even though she was the character I started with.

My writing speed slowed in college, but I did make some headway, especially with the later Lilly books. After college, I participated in NaNoWriMo several times. I started firming up my plot and better understanding the politics of the fictional country I’d created–no surprise since I was working as a political appointee at the time! During the pandemic, I completed more solid drafts of what is now the first Lilly novel and a new novel about Sianna.

I’ve slowly updated this blog with parts of short stories. These are linked with one another and also linked from the time period they take place during. Most are about gymnasts, but not all are. I primarily use first person present in my novels, but I’ve experimented with tense and point of view in the short stories. Most are written for the avid middle-grade or young adult reader. My vocabulary use and complex political structures may be too advanced for the average middle-grade reader, but I keep the topics on this blog appropriate for 11-year-old me. 

All five novels are young adult. Across the Rainbow River: Sianna Cossallow is about a lesbian gymnast struggling with belonging to a politically relevant conservative family. She doesn’t just have to keep secrets about her relationship with her teammate and best friend; she also has to keep secrets about who her family really is. She’s also the reigning National Champion and hopes to go to the World Championships. 

Sianna’s teammate Lilly is Rhetia’s best gymnast, ever, and the latest installment in a family of great gymnasts. The three novels featuring her as a protagonist chronicle her elite career and journey to university during an overwhelming political backdrop. The Youngest Champion tells the story of Lilly’s fight to make the World team after running away from her country’s dictator for weeks. Searching for Something is Lilly’s quest for who her family really is, and what her own goals (as opposed to her politician grandmother’s) are. The Next Era, which covers Lilly from ages 18 to 22, is much more focused on politics, the gay rights movement in Rhetia, and Lilly’s personal university drama.

To be a Champion for You: Niana Aldache is about Lilly’s niece. Niana battles injuries and a “late” start to gymnastics to claim her place among the greats. 

For those interested in fictional history, check out my Worldbuilding page.

~Richenda Anderson

You can sign up for my email list here and follow me on Facebook here. Additionally, you can find my Wattpad page here if you prefer to read selected stories on Wattpad (some may be slightly abridged to adhere to Wattpad’s rating policies).