Guest Blog - Brodi Ashton!

This week's topic is Authors Who Have Influenced Us, but I am traveling for work (See the view from my window in Vermont?) and have asked amazing YA author, Brodi Ashton, to step in for Monday's post. Brodi's book, EVERNEATH, is "a captivating story of love, loss and immortality." Brodi also has her own blog that you should definitely check out! But I have to warn you, her entries are so warm and funny, you'll often find yourself laughing out loud when reading! Thanks, Brodi, for filling in for my while I'm suffering in Vermont :) and welcome to YAMuses.

Below is Brodi's post:
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Trying to narrow down the authors who have influenced me in my life is like trying to pick a favorite piece of Good&Plenty. Impossible. And just like Good&Plenty, the authors who've influenced me the most have a dark, gooey center covered in a candy shell. But not literally.

So, in an effort to keep this to a readable length, I'll focus on the authors who influenced EVERNEATH the most.

The first is the playwright Thornton Wilder, who wrote the play OUR TOWN (among other things too). Now, how does play about characters in a small town in the 1930's living everyday life influence a book about a girl who becomes trapped in a century-long hell of her own making? I'll tell you.

In the third act of the play, the main character Emily gets to relive one day of her life. She chooses her 12th birthday. Before the morning of her re-lived day is even over, she discovers it's too painful to go back to her old life.

I took the "Too painful to go back" theme to heart, and basically wrote a book around it. 17-year old Nikki Beckett has just returned from a mysterious absence. She only has six months before she will disappear again, but she's the only one who knows the clock is ticking. Is it possible to hope she could live those final six months in loving normality among family and friends?

Um... the answer's no. (Spoiler alert!)

The other author who was very influential for my book was Gayle Forman.

EVERNEATH has a very unique timeline, in that it tells a past story and a present story simultaneously. I've never attempted something like this (I am a very disorganized person, so keeping timelines straight was not something I would do on purpose) but the story spoke to me that way. I had a mentor advise me to cut out the flashback scenes, and make it all present. I hesitated, wondering what to do.

My good friend and critique partner Kim Reid gave me Gayle Forman's book IF I STAY right when it first came out. She told me this was a book that used flashbacks and it worked out.

I'd say so. I devoured IF I STAY, and even though I knew I could never reach the level of mastery that Forman displays, it was so reassuring to see someone make it work. It gave me the confidence to stick with what felt like the right way to tell my story.

So, that's why I describe my book as a little bit of IF I STAY mixed with OUR TOWN. With a side of paranormal, and a touch of hell. Mix well for thirty seconds. Bake at 350.

Thanks so much for having me on your awesome blog!!