Authorpreneur Dashboard – Holly M Campbell
Foreshadowed
Teens
Hope Murdoch was born dead. She took a breath two minutes later and now is an almost-normal sixteen-year-old. Normal: a hopeless crush on the boy next door, a negative body image, and a (mis)diagnosis of ADHD. Not-so-normal: an exhausting and distracting ability to read minds. High school is hard enough without hearing what everyone really thinks of you. Lance Hampton used to be normal until a car accident killed him and his parents. Paramedics brought him back to a life he doesn’t want: orphaned, uprooted, living with his uncle, and suddenly able to see how people die. At his new school, he tries to keep to himself. Seeing how complete strangers die is torture enough, let alone friends. At first glance, Hope doesn’t think much of Lance (though a lot of the other girls do). He looks like the typical bad boy. No thank-you…but then she meets his eyes and everything goes dark. She hears labored breathing. Rapid footsteps. And then a thud as someone falls to the ground. Inside Lance’s head, Hope just witnessed a vision of murder…her own. Together, Hope and Lance try to catch a killer before he’s red-handed. A killer who could be anywhere. Anyone. Sure Hope can read minds and Lance can see death, but they still can’t see in the dark.
Book Bubbles from Foreshadowed
Falling Into Place
I chose this scene for two reasons. First, it introduces Lance (one of my favorite characters to write) to both the reader and to Hope. Even though Hope is the main character, the book is very much about Lance’s journey. He changes the most, inspired by Hope and his relationship with her. Second, this is the scene that propels the story forward. In the very first draft, this was my opener, and it took me by surprise. I knew Hope would see (sort of) a vision of her own death…but I didn’t know she would see it in someone else’s mind! I had the basic idea for this novel—a girl who is afraid of the dark because she knows someday she will die in a dark place—for years. But it wasn’t until I wrote this scene that the rest of the story began to fall into place.
