YA & Picture Books

K. Elisabet Anderson writes young adult fiction and picture books that wrestle with faith, family, and finding your place in the world.

Her current YA project, Hunting Artemis (89,000 words), is a Christian contemporary/historical novel set in 1983 South Carolina.

Set in 1983 South Carolina, Hunting Artemis follows Artemis, a punk‑leaning Chicago transplant who lands at a strict Christian prep school and suddenly can’t stop thinking about God, hell, and whether any of it is real. Caught between debutantes, a volatile home life, a morbid new friend, and the one girl brave enough to tackle her uncomfortable God questions, Art goes “preppy” to catch a guy and outrun the uncertainty chewing at her edges. An assignment that requires she visit churches only leaves her with more questions she can’t shake, and as the pressure to belong builds, she has to decide how far she’ll go to keep pretending — and what it would mean if the God she’s been mocking turns out to be real.

Alongside Hunting Artemis, she has several completed picture book manuscripts—character‑driven stories about quirky kids, off‑beat animals, a rescue dog, and even a lonely tree, all learning to find courage, friendship, and hope. These stories blend heart, humor, and visual moments that invite illustrators to play.

Her work as a photo editor and visuals project manager on children’s books informs how she builds scenes, paces emotion, and thinks in images on the page.