January is unique month for Tacoma. While there are several published writers in town, in January, one local novelists will make her debut.

The first is Marissa Meyer. Her book, Cinder, launches Jan 3.

Cinder is a young-adult book based on 16-year-old Cinder, who is part human and part machine. The story is re-envisioned from Cinderella and is the first of a four-part series, each book based on a different fairytale and each with a different heroine. Cinder's innate ability with mechanics leads her to cross paths with Prince Kai, dragging her into a political battle between earth and the Lunar Queen. As the series goes on, a war erupts and the heroines must join forces to end the Lunar regime. While each story captures a bit of fairytale magic familiar to all, Meyer has taken much license. The stories are set in a futuristic Asia - not exactly your usual fairytale setting.

Meyer is a Tacoma native, born and bred. She has a BA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University and an MS in Publishing from Pace University in New York.

"Besides school and the community, Tacoma has mostly factored into my writing in that the rainiest days tend to be my most productive," she says.

"I have always wanted to be a writer, since I first learned that such a job existed," she adds. "I spent my childhood daydreaming and playing make-believe. When I was a teenager I discovered my first writing outlet: Sailor Moon fan fiction."

More than roughly 10 years, Meyer wrote dozens of fan fiction stories, short stories and half-finished novels.

"When I was 24, I had the lightning-bolt idea for Cinder and the Lunar Chronicles, and I knew instantly that I had to see this book through to completion. I was head-over-heels for the concept, and the more I brainstormed and outlined, the more I adored it," she says.

Meyer spent a single November drafting three of the four books in the Cinder series-that's 150,000 words in 30 days. Then she spent the next two years rewriting and revising it.

In a world of publishing that often requires writers to submit endlessly and receive rejections in bunches, Meyer had an agent representing her within two months, and within three months had an offer for publication from an imprint of Macmillan.

"It was a really dizzying three months!" she adds.

After the Cinder launch Jan 3 at the Garfield Book Company, Meyer will depart on a nine-city book tour. Some of these tour dates are regional. Jan. 8 at 2 p.m. Meyer will be at the Lynnwood Barnes & Noble. Jan. 27 at 7 p.m., she will be at the mecca of all bookstores, Powell's in Portland. Meyer also hopes to have some kind of event at the Tacoma Public Library in the near future.

[Garfield Book Company, Marissa Meyer Cinder debut and book-signing, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 7 p.m., free, 208 Garfield St. Suite 101, Tacoma, 253.535.7665]

LINK: Where to eat before or after