Will O' the Wisp is a paranormal tale from C. S. Boyack. It involves a mildly handicapped girl facing a mysterious threat. The wisp has been killing off Patty Hall's family for generations, and she's next on the list. It is suitable for young adult readers. It's a perfect Halloween read.
In most blog tours readers want to know what jarred the author's imagination into writing a story. The fact is that inspiration comes from everything. I find inspiration in music, film, television, art, books, even random conversations.
It so happened that I was spending some time with my grandchildren. They wanted to watch a movie and chose Brave. Now Brave includes a Will O' the Wisp in it. My movie ended there, and my imagination was off to the races. I'll admit it was a fun film, but I kind of tuned out at that point.
I may have spent some time Googling ignis fatuus, Jack o' lantern, fairy lights, and more. I liked the fact that Merida wasn't exactly the typical Disney princess either. She wasn't tall, thin, and perfect. Regular people deserve stories too. I may have incorporated a similar, albeit brunette, hairstyle but the similarity ends there.
Patty Hall is fifteen and lives in rural Virginia, USA. The time is the fall of 1974. Patty is the outcast at her school with her corrective leg braces. She has loyal friends who are outcasts as well. Her journey takes readers on a coming of age story of a sort.
The Wisp itself had to be magical in my mind. It is the harbinger of an ancient curse that's inflicted this specific branch of the Hall family for hundreds of years. I guess we just left Disney movies behind.
Even without any Disneyesque style, Will O' the Wisp is suitable for young adults. I wouldn't be afraid to share it with my oldest granddaughter. (Her siblings can't read yet.) I never shy away from adult themes, but this story doesn't need them, and they would actually detract from the story.
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Patty Hall is perfectly prepared for the wrong problem. She is enamored with the space race, and knows the history of NASA by heart. She is faced with an ancient threat that has been targeting the Hall family for generations. Hampered by an overprotective mother, if Patty can't figure it all out in time, she may be the next member in the Hall family cemetery plot.
It's not hard enough to be a fifteen year old girl, and a social outcast. As she watches her friends mature and grow, she has to face the idea of never turning sixteen. Please consider joining Patty on her incredible adventure.
You can pick up a copy on Amazon using your Kindle or a free reading app. Download it here:
North American version: http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B00UPH6BNS
International version: http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B00UQNDT2C
I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I'm not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.
I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.
I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.
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Follow Craig at the following locations:
Follow my blog: http://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com
Check out all my novels here: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00ILXBXUY
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/Virgilante
On Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9841203.C_S_Boyack