A West Forsyth High School grad is getting some attention after releasing her debut novel.

Taylor Hartshorn’s “Different Walks,” is self-described as a coming of age story.

“I had always wanted to write a book, so I had different ideas in mind,” she said. “It’s a romance, tragedy, adventure-type story; there’s a little bit of everything in there.”

The story alternates between main characters Sage, a high-society woman deciding to rekindle a lost romance, and Phoebe, an adolescent who grew disinterested after “everything she thought she knew came tragically crashing into perspective.”

Hartshorn said the book took form as part of a class while attending Kennesaw State University and continued after graduating.

“I wrote this story for a class and it went over really well, and I kind of just elaborated from there,” she said. “I worked from home for a year, so I had some time to sit behind the computer and focus on writing, so that’s kid of what I did.”

She also had a self-imposed deadline she was able to meet.

“Before I turned 25, I wanted to have my first novel published. That was kind of my goal in this whole thing,” Hartshorn said. “I had 20 days until I turned 25 when it was released, so that was exciting.”

Writing the book was typically done as a page here and there with some days better than others, Hartshorn said, but it wasn’t as hard as she planned.

“It was easier for me that I expected. It was more fun. It never felt tedious,” she said. “It’s about 288 pages in total, so when I look back at it I think, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I did all the work for it.”

For those who know Hartshorn, she said her debut novel may have been unexpected — she planned it that way.

“I kept it a surprise from pretty much everyone. I think I told my immediate family and then some close friends,” Hartshorn said. “I could probably count on my fingers and toes the people that did know about it, and so that was really neat to see because when I announced it, it was a big to-do.

“I’m never really going to get that element of surprise again, because a lot of my friends didn’t know I was writing a book.”

“Different Walks” can be purchased on Amazon.com by searching the book’s or author’s name.