Halyn Mugarson always believed that she was worthless. Her father abandoned her and her mother when Halyn was only 3, and in a graduating class of 49 in the tiny town of Cast Haven, Minnesota, Halyn somehow escapes notice. But when an odd experience brings her close to her neighbor and long-time secret crush, Esteban, for once things are finally starting to look up.
That is, until her dad suddenly re-enters her life and treats her like a bag of dirt, crushing what little self-esteem Halyn has left.
But when a star literally falls on Halyn and Esteban and takes them to the land of Keidreiy, she discovers that she could be wrong about her outlook on life and herself. Through battles, war, good music, love, monsters, and separation, can Halyn learn to accept herself for the Ilori that she really is?
Note: This is not available for sale yet, but once it is edited and I fix some cover issues (one of the background graphics can't be used commercially without permission. It's been a month or so and I haven't heard back, so I may have to make something new) I'm working on it, but I have college and the ACT and other important things to think about.
About the Book:
When the Stars Fall, which has had many titles (Let Go, Never Give Up... well, read the December 2011 posts...in which I agonize over titles- twice), was originally a short story called "Let Go" in which Halyn is stuck in a void with a Gewete and sees these events that trigger the beginning. When the Stars Fall picks up where "Let Go" left off. "Let Go" started with the line It was dark when Halyn opened her eyes. Halyn's first narrative line is something like It was blindingly bright when I opened my eyes. I did that on purpose, because after writing "Let Go" I wasn't ready to give up Halyn Ilori just yet, or Esteban. It was just going to be another short story, but I needed a plot.
This guy is totally Esteban...he makes me happy, so much :)
That plot I got from a song called "Beautiful Love." I found the song on my iPod when Lee was being more annoying than he usually is and I grabbed my iPod on the way to youth group (it's a 20 minute drive, and he was coming with. If I heard one more second of his voice, I was going to explode). I found a song called "Be My Escape" by Relient K and blasted it. Using the handy genius feature, I made a quick playlist to keep Lee's voice out of my head. All of a sudden this song comes on ("Beautiful Love") and I'm instantly feeling better. I can't help but smile when the chorus What a beautiful smile, can it stay for a while? comes up. Then I heard The secret of our world/is written in the stars. And I thought to myself, wouldn't that make a wonderful story? Too bad I don't have characters... I could just see a love plot forming on some sort of Narnia thing... then I remembered. Halyn and Esteban! I hadn't had nearly enough fun with them, so that's how it started.
This idea came to me in December of 2010, not 5 days after I had turned 16. I had written one novel during the summer between 7th and 8th grades and finished it in January of my 8th grade year (2009). It was terrible beyond words, so I gave up on it, but wanted to try again. I wrote about 10,000 words of Let Go: the Novel before I discovered NaNoWriMo. I decided to rewrite what I had written and use this story for National Novel Writing Month. A bit of a cheat, but I hate having more than one big project floating around in my mind at once. [as of right now, I have my screenplay Twice Upon a Time and my next NaNo novel Beauty is Blind fighting for time in my head. I also have two budding ideas Storm Children and The Time Traveller's Daughter who both want attention.))
That's about it.
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