Driftwood by Isabelle

Source: stalecigarettes on Tumblr

Fire.

I was on fire.

I rolled around wildly slapping my body as though I could put it out with my bare hands. But there were no flames. No burns. Only sand.

Coarse, infinite sand.

Navida by Lisa

Navida stood at the edge of the Santa Monica pier, looking down. It was her last visit, her very last gift.

The first thing she’d done was make a list of everything she hadn’t had a chance to do in her other six visits—she’d parasailed and climbed a mountain and ridden a Vespa and egged a house. She’d done almost everything she’d wanted to. She’d even fallen in love.

His name was Shane and he was an artist. He’d even painted her picture—number 47 on her list. She’d spent a thrilling four months with him. She’d tried to tell him what she was, how she didn’t have much time to be with him, but he’d never really listened to her. In the end it was a blessing—he’d left her for an exotic dancer near Marseilles, said she was too young for him, too young for this life.

The things he didn’t know.

She leaned far over the metal railing of the pier. There were warning signs all over as to what you could or could not do, but she climbed up a few bars of the fencing. Down below, the ocean roiled with the high tide, and three salt tears fell silently into the Pacific.

She breathed in the familiar smell of brine, and the wind touched her face, carrying with it a whisper of the world she was returning to. She shivered slightly, even as something deep within her core yearned for home.

The sun was still resting its full weight on the horizon, though, and she had until the last ray sank underneath the waves.

Lisa’s Tuesday Perspective: Mermaids – The next big thing in YA?

I’ve heard rumors that mermaids and various other sea creatures are possibly going to be the next big thing in YA fantasy.  Whether this is true or not no one can really say, because the market is only as predictable as human fickleness allows it to be, but in either case it had me considering whether it was a topic I’m interested in or not.  To be honest… I’m not so sure.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wanted to be a mermaid as much as any other girl at one point in my life, and there’s still that little part of me that would love an existence under the sea chasing butterfly fish and playing with dolphins, etc.  I’m just not so sure I want to read about it.

There are definite mermaid story classics that I love, of course, with Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Splash being at the very top of that list—but outside of those few stories that I fell in love with as a young child, I’ve yet to find a mermaid story that really captured my attention and held it.  One series I tried to read had obviously spent a lot of time building their underwater world and the rules and regulations of society… but the characters were two-dimensional at best.  I’ve enjoyed reading the Emily Windsnap books by Liz Kessler, but they’re middle-grade and the writing makes you feel it.

I guess I’m just wondering if this kind of story can be done in a way that I not only believe, but fall in love with.  If it can, though… I’m all for it.  Because really, I’d like to want to be a mermaid again.  I’d like someone to be able to write a story that convinces me that wanting to be a mermaid is okay.  Don’t you?

Friday Finds: Magic Everywhere

Since Fridays are open ended post days, I thought I’d post a few fun things I’ve been enjoying throughout the week.

Keep in mind that Fridays are an open forum here at Hollow Tree and anything you’d like to talk about for the coming week is fair game! So post away and let us know what books you’ve been reading, what movies you’d like us to see, what shows are catching your eye, what myths you’ve always loved, etc and we’ll be more than happy to discuss them!

With today being as gloomy as it is here in New England, I’ve been wanting to escape to a more magical place. Thankfully, the internet brings magic to your fingertips in all sorts of ways.

Music has always been a HUGE source of inspiration for me so when I first saw this commercial, I was captured by the beautiful instrumental playing in the background. Plus, mermaids! I mean, who doesn’t love mermaids? Ariel is MY favorite Disney princess.

I just never get tired of watching that commerical. It is so beautiful. And I will definitely be checking out The Blue Sky Project album to see what other instrumental gems I find.

I also found a really amazing makeup tutorial which I used as inspiration for my heroine’s costume in the masquerade scene of my story! I really want to find more places to attend where I can do stuff like that. Anyone up for planning a masquerade?

And finally, a movie that I am very anxious to see (and a clever little segway to next week’s book reviews!):

That has movie magic written all over it. Visually stunning, interesting, and come on, Johnny Depp! 🙂 Love it.

Happy Friday everyone!