Awash in Talent: Get to Know Kelly the Firestarter

This, the day before Valentine's, is a great time to talk about WaterFire because, of the three novellas in Awash in Talent (the novel you can make sure gets published!), this one has the purest and most innocent concept of love.

Note, I didn't say it had a happy ending necessarily. It's just that the people in love are pretty new at it and are doing it without malice or manipulation, which can't be said about the other love stories in this novel.

WaterFire is the second novella and is narrated by Kelly, a pyrokinetic (firestarter) who's been placed in Providence's special school for her Talent after coming into her power in a surprising and destructive way. I imagine that's Kelly on the cover, sitting on the docks near the school and contemplating her fate as well as the beautiful city she loves but must escape from. The cover was created by Amygdala Designs and inspired the romantic scene in which Brian takes Kelly on a seemingly spontaneous date to WaterFire.

WaterFire is a real-life public art installation that Kelly appreciates and describes in detail in the novella. Check it out here.

Kelly's love, Brian, is another student at the school, which little by little is revealed to be nothing more than a lockdown facility to keep the frightening powers of the pyrokinetics out of the public arena. This is a problem because Kelly's mother is suffering in the burn ward at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Kelly finds out that Emily's sister might be able to heal her mother! How can she bring them together when no one trusts her to be able to control her Talent?

While the love story is a beautiful part of WaterFire, it doesn't define Kelly. She's too busy understanding her own power and trying to save her mother. I enjoyed writing about a teenager who has a lot of problems, but love isn't one.

You can read about Kelly's journey of emotional strength—and don't miss the underaged driving in the snow!—if Awash in Talent gets enough nominations in the Kindle Scout program to win publication. Everyone who nominates Awash in Talent before February 29 will receive an exclusive free early reader copy! Help me make my dream come true. I'll thank you for it.

See even more about Awash in Talent here.