Will
Rise from Ashes
Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Release date: April 17, 2019
by Jean M. Grant
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Bio:
Jean’s background is in science and she draws
from her interests in history, nature, and her family for inspiration. She
writes historical and contemporary romances and women’s fiction. She also
writes articles for family-oriented travel magazines. When she’s not writing or
chasing children, she enjoys tending to her flower gardens, hiking, and doing just
about anything in the outdoors.
Tagline: Living is more than mere survival.
Blurb:
Young widow AJ
Sinclair has persevered through much heartache. Has she met her match when the
Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, leaving her separated from her youngest son
and her brother? Tens of thousands are dead or missing in a swath of massive
destruction. She and her nine-year-old autistic son, Will, embark on a risky
road trip from Maine to the epicenter to find her family. She can't lose
another loved one.
Along
the way, they meet Reid Gregory, who travels his own road to perdition looking
for his sister. Drawn together by AJ's fear of driving and Reid's military and
local expertise, their journey to Colorado is fraught with the chaotic
aftermath of the eruption. AJ's anxiety and faith in humanity are put to the
test as she heals her past, accepts her family's present, and embraces
uncertainty as Will and Reid show her a world she had almost forgotten.
AJ Sinclair is a young widow, on a
cross-country journey with her autistic/Asperger's 9-year-old son in the wake
of the Yellowstone supervolcano eruption. Her other younger son is missing
after the eruption and she needs to find him. Along the way, her son and a
stranger she meets show her a world that she's almost forgotten...that living
is more than mere survival.
How did I do my research for Will Rise from Ashes?
Simply put, heaps of reading, exploring, and
travel. My background is in science (microbiology, immunology, biology, and
marine science—I spent a lot of time fine-tuning my interests in college and
graduate school), and I love traveling and hiking. The idea of Will Rise from Ashes
came from a bit of my own life (as a parent with an autistic child) and my love
of nature…I asked myself: What would happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano
erupted? Volcanoes are a constant topic in our household. Bam! My story came.
Then, road trip time! I’d already visited the
lovely national park in the corner of Wyoming as a child and took another trip
this time with my family, 4 years ago. This highlight of our national park
system did not let me down. I was walking on ground zero—research moments were
everywhere! We also toured other geothermal wonders throughout the Pacific
Northwest on that trip. The bright sapphire-blue Crater Lake was one of my
favorites and meandering through the observation areas of Mount St. Helens gave
me shivers. I returned home with piles of books (and key websites at my
fingertips, such as USGS and Yellowstone National Park) and dug into the story.
While writing, I’d stop to dig deeper with
research. And up front, I take careful character development into
consideration. My stories tend to have journeys of the body and heart, and this
one takes my characters from Maine to Colorado. Talk about a road trip. The experts
say “write what you know” and for me that was science, journeys, and parenting.
I hope my readers enjoy AJ and Will’s journey in Will Rise from Ashes as much
as I do.
Excerpt
A gray column of
ash exploded on the screen. The plume darkened the sky.
“Mom, come
look!” Will said, without turning from the TV.
She fidgeted
with the mail on the kitchen counter. Then said a bad word. The metal trash lid
clanged open, and she grumbled. He tapped a finger on his thigh as he listened
to the newscaster.
A few minutes passed. “Mom…”
“One minute,”
she called. He turned. She dragged the basket of dirty laundry from their
vacation to Yellowstone down the basement steps. Thump, thump, thump.
“But it’s the
volcano! On TV!” His pulse flickered. This was important. She needed to see.
“Hang on a sec,
Will.”
The clock read
9:03 p.m. Eastern Time, but it still felt like Mountain Time and he wasn’t sleepy.
He counted to one second. He knew she didn’t mean that. Her “a sec” or “a
minute” could be way longer.
She returned from
the basement and opened the window over the kitchen sink. The metallic,
vibrating hum of the foghorn sounded in the distance. He rose and added a tally
mark to the chart on his clipboard. Soon, he’d need to make his snow charts,
too. But it was only August.
“Where are
they?” Mom said.
She came through
the doorway to the living room with her mug in one hand. It smelled like burnt
stinky milk. He covered his nose.
“Mom, watch
out!” She almost stepped on his eight red volcano cut-outs lined in a row in front
of the TV. His heart kerthumped. He straightened one, so the bottom edge
realigned with the rest. There, better.
“So, honey, what
is it? Find an interesting documentary to watch?” she finally asked, drawing
her gaze to the TV as she stumbled. “Will, the tape and scissors. I need you to
pick them up, okay?” She yawned. “We need to go to bed soon.” She leaned over
the coffee table and clicked her laptop shut with another curse. “I can’t even
track their flight. Where are they?” she repeated to herself.
Her brown eyes
were shiny, holding that sad look she got when she thought about Dad. Some expressions
confused him, but Mom was easier to understand than others. She was sad a lot
these days. Was she sad about his little brother Finn not returning home yet? He
approached her and hugged her around the waist. He nudged the top of his head
against her ribcage. “It’s okay, Mom. Finn and Uncle Brandon will be here.
Maybe their flights were delayed again?”
She exhaled.
Coffee breath. His stomach squeezed. Delays. Yuck, he didn’t like delays either.
She said in a
whisper, a raspy grating sound, “They should’ve landed by now…the traffic north
to Maine from Boston isn’t awful this time of day. Finn’s going to be so
wired.”
But he’s not a robot, Will
wanted to say, but he knew it was just one of Mom’s weird phrases. The commercials
ended. He grabbed her hand. “Look, Mom. Yellowstone! Maybe Finn and Uncle Brandon
saw it erupt since we were all just there! How lucky of them to see that, huh?”
He pointed to the LIVE symbol in the bottom right corner.
Her mug slipped
and fell in a crash, spilling all over his volcanoes.
Thanks for hosting me today!
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