The Blue Forest

It was autumn in the blue forest.  The trees stood nearly bare, limbs outstretched like spindly arms trying to touch the sky.  Crimson leaves carpeted the floor, a breeze occasionally lifting one to dance around the cobalt trunk of its most recent home.  Quieter now, the chatter of summer long gone as squirrels found burrows and sparrows migrated south for warmer weather.  Hungry wolves slunk silently through the shadows, looking for one last meal before laying down in the warmth of their den.  Soon, skies would turn gray and snow would fall, smothering the colors in a blanket of white, and the blue forest would wait, on ice, until the spring thaw.

*****

I found this picture today on Pinterest (I don't want to post it on here for copyright reasons).  It stuck with me, and I thought I just had to write about it.

Freebie Alert!!! Mythology

I'm a reader.

I was the kid who holed up in her room reading all day.  The one who stayed up until three in the morning to finish a book, even though I had a big test that day.  And I'm the one who was so engrossed in a book in the library that the librarian had to literally walk to my table and put her hand on my shoulder to get my attention (the library was closing and she was trying to get out of there).

But now I'm a writer, too.

And that changes things somewhat.  No longer can I just get lost in a good story.  There are so many booby traps to pull me out of it now.  Shouldn't there be an inciting incident here?  Hey, that's a blatant deus machina!  Can you please stop jumping in and out of all those characters' heads?

Mythology by Helen Boswell

Recently I read a book that appealed to both the reader and the writer in me.

Mythology by Helen Boswell is a YA novel that, like Twilight, will appeal to audiences of all ages.  Here is the description of it from Amazon:

Hope Gentry doesn’t believe in Fate. Born with an unusual power to see the dark memories of those around her, Hope just wants to be a normal teenager. But on the first day of her senior year of high school, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to a transfer student named Micah Condie. At first glance, Micah seems like a boy that most girls would dream about. But when Hope's powers allow her to discover Micah's darkest secret, she quickly becomes entangled in the lives of mythical entities she never dreamed existed

What I loved about Mythology is that it has wonderful, engaging characters.  Hope is a powerful female main character who makes a wonderful heroine.  I love how Helen is able to show Hope's powers in a very visceral way.  Hope is the one who pushes the action, making her own choices and  moving the story forward.

I'm thinking that Ms. Boswell must have read Save the Cat, because her story structure flows flawlessly.  Inciting incident?  Check.  Increasing tension leading to an action-packed climax?  Check.  False victory?  Oooh, good one, yes check!  Deeply satisfying ending?  Yep, check that off, too.

Add to that a wonderful, distinctive voice and a masterful treatment of theme, and Mythology turns out to be an engaging page-turner of a novel.

And here's the best part:  Mythology is free!  You can purchase the Kindle version of Mythology for free today (Monday, October 1, 2012) through Wednesday (October 3, 2012).

I hope you enjoy Mythology as much as I did, and when you're done, please take time to leave a nice review on Amazon.