Book author at the age of just 17: Even her father becomes a bookworm

She is just 17 years old and is preparing for her Abitur: Anne-Marie Jettenberger from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Now she has published her first novel.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

- Anne-Marie Jettenberger was three years old when she wrote her first lines on paper.

When she was five, she was on stage, putting herself in complex characters, effortlessly playing joy and sadness.

At the age of eight, the Burgrainer was already writing stories with her cousin and bringing characters to life.

The inspiration was her German teacher.

At the tender age of 15 she wrote her first novel.

At 17 she published her first fiction work: "Jart - Without a single thought".

With this debut, she is likely to be the youngest book author in the district - if not far beyond that.

Jettenberger is sitting on an old wine-red couch in the cellar of the Protestant church in Mittenwald.

A casual youth room, redesigned.

Video game symbols on the red painted wall, table football, pool table, a mixer as decoration.

It is her first press event.

Jettenberger observes carefully.

Her green eyes are wide awake.

They convey a feeling as if Jettenberger could read what others think.

A gift that the girl also gives to her main character in her first work "Jart". Because Layla, her protagonist, can read minds. Not in the form of women in fairground tents quoting from the palms of their hands or tarot cards. She can truly read them - or hear them. But the gift doesn't work with the boy she falls in love with. Her family secret, an inheritance from her mother, appears to be in jeopardy.

Jettenberger's idea for the teenage novel “Jart” arose at the age of 15. During the summer holidays between 9th and 10th grade at St. Irmengard-Gymnasium.

She quickly got bored.

Despite all the reading.

Sometimes she devours a novel in a day.

“I can even tell books by their smell,” she says and laughs.

“The ones from Carlsen-Verlag smell the most intensely.” One day it occurred to her what if she could truly hear what other people think?

"I am very empathetic." She quickly interprets the facial expressions and gestures of others.

From this idea she spun a red thread, created the main character Layla and her best friend Sky.

I will, papa.

But let me have lunch.

Anne-Marie Jettenberger

Only later did she realize that the protagonists actually represent her and her best friend Sophie. She wrote entire blocks of paper. Invented characters, scenes, places. The novel is set in England. She was never there, "but there are school balls". She also loves JK Rowling's world of Harry Potter. She rarely had writer's block. And when she did, she dreamed the plot that night and wrote it down immediately after waking up so that she would not forget it.

Your first critic: the parents.

They were always allowed to read the manuscript after about 50 pages.

She unconsciously received her greatest praise from her papa.

“He's not a bookworm,” says Jettenberger.

But he had read her story in less than two days.

At some point he asked her: “Please, keep writing.

I want to know how it turns out. ”Then the good daughter:“ I'll do it, papa.

But let me have lunch. "

Her writing stopped after the holidays.

Everyday school life caught up with them.

By 2020 the corona lockdown had at least one positive side effect: Jettenberger now had enough time for her book - at the age of 17.

The search for a publisher was arduous. Her manuscript was on many desks. The answer was always the same: the publishers loved the story. Working only with minors is difficult. Until her neighbor had the solution. While reading the Tagblatt she came across the report about the self-made publisher Thomas Schwarz from Mittenwald. He specializes in unknown authors. Schwarz was enthusiastic about the young natural talent. “I read the story through several times.” In the editing department, only more “quibbles” had to be improved. In a video conference with Anne-Marie Jettenberger and her mother, they nailed it. They designed the layout. The book cover was drawn by 19-year-old Johannes Mentgen from Mittenwald. “A real eye-catcher,” enthuses Schwarz.

Now the novel has actually been published.

It seems promising.

But Jettenberger does not see herself as a full-time author in the future.

The now 18-year-old wants to complete her Abitur in a few months and then study Franco-German law in Erlangen.

"But besides, writing will remain my great passion."

The book is available directly from Mittenwalder Verlag SchwarzWeisses, among others.