Casey Wittchen

A Passion for Writing

By Kyle Adams

Photo credit: Kyle Adams/Mechanicville Mile

This story, excerpted from a Mechanicville Mile post published Jan. 31, is printed with permission.

Casey Wittchen published her first book in January. And the 21-year-old UAlbany junior has several more “in the works.”   

Wittchen was in high school when she wrote Behind Locked Doors over the course of about six months; the edit took two years. She is already working on Within Silent Graves, the next installment in her planned Devils Grace series. 

Set in Santa Monica, Calif., Behind Locked Doors is a young-adult/urban-fantasy novel. It follows 17-year-old Tempest Laurier as the search for her birth father plunges her into a world of faeries and demons, adventures and secrets. The investigation into her past “sets her on a crumbling road of physical and psychological pain, along with loss as relationships are tried and truths are discovered,” notes the Amazon.com book description.

The cover was illustrated by family friend and artist John Hebert, who based the drawing of Tempest on Wittchen – fitting, considering that the protagonist seems to draw from her creator’s personality. Wittchen observed: “A lot of people said that when they read Tempest, she’s just like me. So maybe Tempest, to a certain extent, draws from my own experiences.”

Behind Locked Doors is the Mechanicville, N.Y., resident’s first full novel. She published it herself using Amazon CreateSpace. It’s available in both e-book and print formats. 

A second edition of Behind Locked Doors, released in June, “is slightly different from the [original] version,” Wittchen noted. “I also signed a contract to have my book made into an audio book. It will be narrated by Todd Haberkorn, an incredible voiceover actor and a huge inspiration to me.” 
Wittchen, a writer since age 4, is an English major at UAlbany. She minors in Japanese, history, business and anthropology.

In May, Wittchen completed the first book in another series; Forgive Me For I Have Sinned is slated for publication this fall. She is currently writing Haven’s Wake, which begins a third series.

Follow Wittchen on Twitter @NaturallyCasey or visit her website, www.cawittchen.com.