WISH WEEK DAY TWO PUSHING THE WISHBUTTON
Posted on July 16, 2012
Officially, this week will be branded Wish Week on this blog. All the posts will focus on revealing another layer of the novel, IRVING WISHBUTTON AND THE QUESTING ACADEMY.
Through these postings, I hope to reveal that my creation is a sincere book that is deserving of your attention and promotion. If you like what you see here, please tell a dozen friends. Now, on with the heartfelt sharing.
What makes IRVING WISHBUTTON special?
Having reread IRVING this past week, I feel intimately reconnected to my characters as reader. Since I haven't looked at the novel in a year, I got to experience the book like a new reader. You know what? It's a wonderful book filled with characters that matter and world-building like you've never seen before.
Today, I want to talk about the themes that Irving brushes up against in his early days of existence at the Questing Academy.
Belief and Identity: My books always seem to tinker with the power of belief and how it drives a person to more fully resolve themselves or face fading into the masses. I think this comes from my early years as a teenager and the lack of belief I had in myself. I walked through high school in a trance, never seeing myself as worthwhile or relevant. It wasn't until my early thirties that I forged my identity and saw myself as someone with a point of view. Similar comparisons are rampant in Irving's world. He appears at the academy not fully formed, a smudge. Despite his appearance not yet fleshed out by his author, Irving starts to discover who he is without knowing what he looks like. He does this reluctantly and through the aid of some mighty kindly friends and fitting enemies. All of them help him draw himself into focus long before his creator does. While this is happening, he encounters other characters from other books who are more complete than himself. This weighs on him and makes him doubt himself. This symbolism is really telling to those in high school and college who look around and see everyone else has their act together and wonder why they feel so half-formed and ill-defined. Because of this, IRVING speaks to all-ages, while still targeting the YA market.
Tuesday: Wish Week continues with a sample of two chapters that really show the character soul-searching and spotlight the mysteries that nag at Irving about the academy and its true purpose. I can't wait until you meet Professor Warhinder and see the great student body she guides in their exploration of both their inner and outer selves.
Wednesday: Heroes, Villains and The Roles We Play and the Roles that Play Us
Thursday: We're Talking Girls
Friday: Dual Narrative Format Yo!
Readers, buy this book!