It’s only one week until publication day of my YA novel The Lightning Tree! I can barely believe it!
The Main Character
I thought I’d tell you a little bit more about the main character, seventeen-year-old Flora Reed. In the opening of the story, she struggles to adapt to life after her sister Fauna’s accident a year earlier. Burdened by grief and guilt, she goes through the motions of school and home life, trying her best to keep up appearances for the sake of her mother, Ava. There’s a bright spot in Flora’s life though, the cute boy who moved in next door, Carl. He doesn’t seem bothered by the rumours about that girl circulating around their small town, referring to Flora. Instead he proves to be her loyal friend, and maybe even more than friend, which Flora secretly hopes for.
The Mystery
Every day though, Flora is reminded of her sister’s tragedy, by lightning marks engraved on the skin of her arms, neck and chest. She can often feel the scars tingle and burn, especially when she is close to trees, but she dismisses the strange sensations as mere damaged nerves. That is, until she hears her sister calling for her, the same morning that she finds a lifeless body in her front yard. Matters get worse when more people from her small town are found dead under mysterious circumstances and police take an interest in Carl. Flora is convinced that he is innocent. Instead she suspects that the deaths are somehow connected to her sister’s accident and the lightning scars on her skin. What she learns changes everything and she has to race against time to prevent the killings from spreading.
Sensitive and Strong
I absolutely loved writing Flora Reed as the main character. She is such a deep and complex person; sensitive and vulnerable but at the same time strong-minded and full of conviction that stems from her compassionate heart. At the young age of seventeen, she has already experienced deep heartbreak and grief, and she taps into these emotions to find the strength she needs to tackle the mind-boggling changes to the world that she is the first to become aware of.
Meet Fauna
I also loved writing Flora’s younger sister Fauna. She emerged as a second main character while I wrote the story. I felt that her perspective and experiences were so interesting, I just had to explore them more closely and share that with the reader. That’s how I ended up with the book’s structure of alternating chapters. This allowed me to build suspense and deepen the understanding of what is going on, as well as add subtext when the reader gets a sense of the contact between the sisters. They are a kind of metaphor for how close mankind and nature are; living side by side but not really communicating. Even though Fauna’s chapters are the shortest, they were the hardest to write. To capture her voice, her pain and her longing often brought me to tears.
These two sisters play a crucial role in the fight between humanity and nature in the Natural Intelligence revolution, and I can’t wait for you to meet them! They were such a joy to write, their individual traits, but also how they relate to each other, to nature, and the world around them. All the characters are close to my heart, even the villains, who you’ll also meet in the books!
Love,
Lene
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The premise of this story is so powerful! Congratulations on upcoming publication day!
Thank you so much Anders! I’m glad you like the premise 🙂
This is so exciting! Only one week until publication!!
Yay! Thanks Joselin! <3
Gillar konceptet att allt levande hör ihop. T.ex. att man mår så bra i skogen eller på stranden vid havet. Ska bli spännande att lära mer om NI i dina böcker. Snart så…
❤ kram
Jaa, snart! 🙂 Och eller hur, finns inget bättre än att vara ute i naturen och lyssna till brus av vågor eller trädkronor… Kram <3
This book has changed my view on so many elements of life! I cannot get enough of Flora and Fauna. I have a sister that I’m very close to and I cried at least three times as I read the powerful connection that two sisters can have. Thank you so much for writing this powerful story and seriously…what happens next? I must know!!!
Thank you so much Trisha for your kind comments and your support! It was a moving experience to write about Flora and Fauna, I am so happy to hear that you were moved as well reading it. Book two is just a few months away now! Can’t wait to share the rest of the story!