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by Sarah Raplee McDermed
My favorite novels are truly novel. Changelings of the story world. To paraphrase Shakespeare, I want to read tales that “have undergone a sea change, into something rich and strange.” Surprises are the nuts in the cookie.
A case in point is The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith. The story opens in the heroine’s point-of-view, which is, I dare say, unique in all the stories I’ve read.
Read the opening below, and you will see what I mean.
“Her eyes rested above the waterline as a moth struggled inside her mouth. She blinked to force the wings past her tongue, and a curious revulsion followed. The strangeness of it filtered through her toad brain until she settled on the opinion that it was best to avoid the wispy, yellow-winged ones in the future.
“Unperturbed, she propelled herself into the murky shallows to nestle among the reeds…”
Have you figured out the heroine is a frog? More specifically, she is a cursed young vine witch who has been living as a frog for years. But that's about to change...
This story delivers as promised in the short first chapter: unique, puzzling, mysterious, and magical.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the adjective novel as “new and not resembling something formerly known or used.”
Why read novel novels? Because they are fun to
read novelty is good for your brain.
In the Feb. 13, 2012, New York Times article, “What’s New? Exuberance for Novelty Has Benefits,” John Tierney reports the following:
“Novelty-seeking is one of the traits that keeps you healthy and happy and fosters personality growth as you age,” says C. Robert Cloninger, the psychiatrist who developed personality tests for measuring this trait. The problems with novelty-seeking showed up in his early research in the 1990s; the advantages have become apparent after he and his colleagues tested and tracked thousands of people in the United States, Israel and Finland.
“It can lead to antisocial behavior,” he says, “but if you
combine this adventurousness and curiosity with persistence and a sense that
it’s not all about you, then you get the kind of creativity that benefits
society as a whole.”
My story “Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure” is
based on an Oregon Coast legend. “Enchanted Protector” is a retelling
of the Grimm’s fairy tale, “Snow-White and Rose-Red.”
Both of my stories are included in the Paranormal Romance
anthology, Love and Magick.
Do you consider yourself a novelty-seeker? ~ Sarah
Find Sarah Raplee McDermed at:
Website: Under Construction
Blog: Romancing the Genres - 4th Tuesday of the month
