And then, she poured her own grit into her character

From debut author, Sarah Allen comes 'What Stars Are Made Of', a pitch-perfect, heart-warming middle-grade novel about growing up, finding self, and loving people with everything you're made of. Sarah Allen was born with a rare medical condition 'Turner Syndrome'. This condition affects only females, results when one of the X chromosomes (sex chromosomes) is missing or partially missing.

Turner syndrome can cause a variety of medical and developmental problems, including short height, failure of the ovaries to develop and heart defects.

Sarah grew up in Utah, the oldest of eight children. She has moved around a bit and lived in places like Washington DC, Las Vegas, and currently lives in Seattle. Sarah received a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University and started her novel 'What Stars Are Made Of' during her final semester.

The book is about 12-year-old Libby Monroe, who is great at science, being optimistic, and talking to her famous, accomplished friends. Libby was born with Turner Syndrome, and that makes some things hard. But she has lots of people who love her, and that makes her pretty lucky.

About the idea behind penning this book, Sarah informs, "Like Libby, the main character in my book, I was also born with Turner syndrome.

Obviously, I never saw this experience represented in any of the books I read or movies I saw. I always knew I wanted to write a character with Turner Syndrome,but didn't quite know how to get a handle on it, and didn't feel confident in my abilities.

When I went back for a Masters degree, I was working with Martine Leavitt, and thought, if there's anyone who can help me get this right, it's her. So, I jumped into this idea that had been floating around in my mind for years, and finally had the tools to tell the story of my heart!"

Excerpts from an interview:

When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?

I have known I wanted to be a writer basically since I can remember, as I grew up finding my best friends in books and their characters. We have a family video of my dad teaching me to memorise some Dr Seuss quotes, and I think I've always had a love of story and words.

I remember when I was about twelve or thirteen, I realised that books were written by actual people, who made books for their actual grown-up job, and I knew from then on that's exactly what I wanted to do.

Is Libby Monroe based on you?

While Libby and I share several similarities and experiences, Libby is definitely her own character. I wanted to write a character who had Turner syndrome like me, and this bright, intelligent, incredibly hopeful and optimistic character developed in my head. I'm a pretty determined person, but I think Libby is even more so!

Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?

I did take several of the details of Turner syndrome from my own life and used them in writing 'What Stars Are Made Of'. For example, both Libby and I had heart surgery when we were new-borns. I was also teased for wearing hearing aids when I was young, and I took that experience and used it in the book as well.

And I do have four sisters, even though they're all younger than me, so I drew upon my relationship with them to create Libby's relationship with her sister.

What is your writing process like?

The most difficult part for me is the beginning when I'm trying to take all the nebulous ideas I have in my head and put them down into a concrete form, with a logical plot and structure.

This can take months or even years, but once I've got my plan, then I draft fairly fast. And once the first draft is complete, then we get to move on to my favourite part, editing! Writing the first draft of '...Stars' took me about five or six months.

Do you have a set schedule for writing, or are you one of those who write only when they feel inspired?

I definitely try to have something in the works on a regular basis, whether I feel in the mood or not. While writing as a hobby is fantastic, and in my opinion, more people should do it, I personally want to treat my writing as a profession and try to approach it with that level of seriousness.

When I'm working on writing a draft of something, I know that I work best in the mornings, and so I try and structure my day accordingly, and sometimes that has meant getting up incredibly early so I can get some writing done before my day job. Other times, my schedule doesn't allow for writing in the mornings, so I write in the evenings as best I can. Whatever it takes to make it work!

You have Turner's syndrome so how was living with it and what advice would you like to give young women who have this condition?

Yes indeed, I was also born with Turner syndrome. There were a few things that were different or difficult, such as taking growth hormone shots from ages 8-12 and occasionally finding it difficult to make friends.

However, I had an incredibly supportive family who treated me no different from anyone else, and so I've never felt that Turner syndrome is something to hold anyone back from living whatever life they want. To any girls with Turner syndrome I'd say, you are wonderful and amazing just the way you are and have everything you need to go for your dreams.

What are your future projects?

I have another book coming out with Macmillan in 2021, and I can't say much about it yet, but it's also a novel about sisters!