About this item
"Sharp and unflinching - a perfectly unnerving story." - Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push. A taut, powerful mom-noir psychological thriller following a mother who must confront a sudden and terrifying change in her daughter after the abrupt death of their babysitter. Charlotte's daughter Stella is sensitive and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but a recent change in her behavior has alarmed her parents. Following the sudden death of Stella's babysitter, Blanka, the once disruptive and anti-social child has become docile and agreeable. But what's unsettling is that she has begun to mirror Blanka's personality, from Blanka's repetitive phrases to her accent, to fierce cravings for Armenian meat stew after being raised a vegetarian.
About the Author
Hello! I'm the co-author of the novel, Sparked, along with Malena Watrous. We've both published solo novels, but if you've ever tried to write anything, you know that writing can be a lonely, angst-filled business. So one night over a cocktail or two, we came up with a solution: write our next book together. Malena already had an idea: a girl's sister is kidnapped and she has to rely on mean girls with superpowers to get her sister back. We couldn't resist seeing where that story would take us - a wild ride that includes a loner girl who wants to be a writer and a gorgeous boy who can shoot fire from his eyes but also loves to talk about books. And an ancient Zoroastrian prophecy. And pie shakes. (OK, so maybe we got a little carried away.)
Used to writing alone, we had no idea how co-writing would work out, but we pounded out the first draft in a white-hot frenzy of inspiration we called "the Vortex." One of us would write a scene and send it to the other with a note: "My apartment is a pigsty and I haven't eaten all day. #inthevortex."
Find out more about us and Sparked at www.sparkedthebook.com
Twitter: @sparkedbook
Instagram: @sparkedbook
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparkedbook/
Also, we like to give advice about the writing life, and writing, and sometimes just life. Submit your question here: http://www.bay-ata.com/sparked/dear_lena.php. We dish out, ahem, pearls of wisdom on topics like how to get published, why you should keep a journal, and why you should always specify what type of sandwich your character is eating.
Like Malena, I teach fiction-writing for Stanford's Continuing Studies department, a glorious job because it's just so much easier helping other people with their writing than figuring out how to fix your own.
I live in Berkeley, California with my tae kwon do instructor husband and our two kids.
