Do You Believe?

Guest Blogger: Georgia McBride

PRAEFATIO is a story about actions, reactions and consequences. There are so many lies being told and so much backstabbing and duplicitous behavior, Grace wonders who she can trust. And the pain that Grace experiences as a result of these lies never really goes away. It wears on her confidence, her ability to make decisions and her growth as a person. Her sense of trust is destroyed. Her familial bonds are obliterated and Grace begins to question if her reality is in fact real. How can one 17-year-old survive something as traumatic as what Grace has been through?

At the core of Grace’s being, she is a believer. She knows in her gut that her truth is real. And yet, despite declaring herself to be an angel in chapter 1, Grace has no proof. She can’t fly, she has no wings and no powers. She is a plain as you and I, and perhaps even more so considering how defeated she is when the police find her.

But it’s Grace’s growth that is the true inspiration in PRAEFATIO, not her cool clothes, ability to change hair color or even her combat skills — though impressive. It’s Grace’s constant challenge of herself to improve and take charge of her own life, despite those who would seek to use her for their own personal gain. Grace refuses to be a pawn, refuses to be manipulated. She begins taking her power back and manipulating the manipulators.

Ultimately the reader understands the nature of Grace’s true power. It isn’t flying or mind reading or even defeating demons, but the power to believe herself, even if others doubt her. Even if she can’t trust anyone. Even if she has no proof of who or what she is. And sometimes, when life kicks us, or people we love disappoint us, all we have is our belief in ourselves. We have our belief that things will get better, that we will be OK, even if it takes a while.

Georgia McBride was born and raised in NYC but has been living in NC since 2006. When not writing or running Month9Books or Swoon Romance or the non-profit literary organization YALITCHAT.ORG, which she founded, Georgia visits schools and talks to kids about writing books!

Georgia writes speculative fiction for teens and tweens and even has an adult non-fiction book brewing in that overactive brain of hers. In her spare time she can be found rounding up 2 kids, 1 German Shepard, 3 Chihuahuas, and 1 parrot. She loves music of all kinds, wine and movies, and is addicted to coffee and bacon. Some of her favorite creators are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams and Ridley Scott. She would cut off her right (or left) arm to work with any of the above.

She supports adoption (people and dogs), music appreciation, reading/literacy, animal rescue, cultural exchange, eco-friendly activities, equal rights for everyone and believes that we must achieve world peace.

 

2 Comments:

  1. Georgia, great guest post! I love a story that has a strong character overcoming all odds to find the strength to believe in themselves. My middle grade adventure fantasy, currently out on submission, has a similar premise which is: “Adversity leads to the emergence of true power.”

    And it sounds like Grace definitely faces adversity here to find the power within as well. I especially love this message for teens who are at a critical time in their lives seeking to find their own strengths and believe in themselves, often when others dismiss them or put them down. This sounds like a great read!

    (And I would cut off an arm or leg to work with Ridley Scott, especially if Russell Crowe was involved.)

  2. Great premise. Good luck with the book.

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