Love and Dystopia
By Kate Wrath
I have to admit, I’m a sucker for romance. I love watching chick flicks, and I can never resist a book that draws me deep into the hearts of the characters and makes me *feel* that connection between them. Give me Shakespeare and whole-box-of-tissue movies and poetry and sweet, soulful rock ballads. I’ll be a happy girl.
.
Knowing that, it might seem odd that I’m writing a dystopian series in which the world has pretty much gone to hell, giant robots brutally enforce what’s left of the law, and things are… beyond dire. Let’s just say my main character goes to some extreme lengths to stay alive. It’s a dark world—a world that sometimes makes your skin crawl—and all the rainbows and butterflies are a thing of distant memory. Where’s the beauty in that? I think of it like this: A dystopia is a mirror of the darkest aspects of society and human nature. A portrait of all that could be wrong. But within that image, there is also a projection of the things that are right. Beauty and truth and love in its purest form. So the rainbows and butterflies are there, but they have to be tested. They have to prove their worth.
.
As the third book in The E Series begins, my main characters have already been through a lifetime’s worth of misfortune. The romantic relationship that began in the first book has been battered and tossed about on the winds of circumstance and uncertainty. But there’s something undeniable, and as we move forward, our characters take the next step toward each other, daring to feel, daring to love, despite all the fear the world has infused into them. But it’s only just the beginning for them… and who knows what’s still to come? So you see, for me, love and dystopia go together perfectly. Like sweet and salty. Like joy and tears. Wishing you all many amazing reading adventures. May you find stories you fall in love with, dystopian or not.
An excerpt from Eden:
I glance at his face. He's not looking at me, but off down the street, taking in everything in that relaxed sort of way one does when everything is good and at ease. He looks at me now, sensing me looking at him. His smile is so easy. So real and natural. It's the perfect time to ask him, when he's like this. But that would bring all the weight back in. His smile would disappear. Maybe we'll walk just a moment more. But a moment, and a moment, and a moment. It's not enough of this. When I let all my thoughts go—when I let them float away on the breeze like a cobweb—there's just the filmy sparkle of their passing. And behind, sunshine. Smiles. Something warm and good inside me that I don't want to give up. Yes, there are tuggings and pullings and longings deep within, but if I pay them no attention, I can just be here in this moment. I can just feel what it's like to be smiled at by him. I sigh and lean into his shoulder as we walk. He murmurs something—some wordless something—an unimportant comment or offhand observation. I feel outside of language, right now. It's the tone that's important. The being. So we walk, and I drink it all in. Forever later—an instant later—we find ourselves at one of the warehouses with the trees. "They're mostly in bloom," he says, drawing me through the door. Inside is a secret forest of blossom and nectar and sunshine. We walk through the rows of trees, observing their flowers and the occasional fruit. It's a quiet place in and of itself, and our voices are gone for a long time. There is a single orange dangling off the end of a branch, right at face level. We stop, and I caress it with my finger tips, leaning in to smell it. There is something about that smell. My eyes flutter closed as I inhale, drinking in the perfume of citrus. When I draw back, exhaling slowly, opening my eyes, Jonas is looking at me from the other side of the orange. A soft, soft smile is painted across his face. And I don't want to let go of this moment. But I have to ask. He knows so much more about everything here, than me. "What can you tell me about oranges?" His eyebrows go up a touch with surprise. He considers. "They're our main source of trade." "Yes." I suppose I knew that. But what does it mean? "...And you like them," he adds. "A lot." He takes hold of the orange and plucks it from the branch, holds it out to me. It rolls off his palm and comes to rest in the cup of his curved fingers. I look at the orange for a moment, a little chill running up my spine. "Yes," I say again, taking it from him and raising it to my nose. I meet his gaze as I breathe in the lovely smell one more time, smiling behind the orange. "I do." He laughs and turns away, touching a dangling branch of blossoms from the next tree over. "We used to come here," he murmurs, and though the words are quiet, I hear him well. He glances back over his shoulder at me, and a line has etched itself across his brow. "I wish we had a place just for us," he says. "That wasn't ever anyone else's." "We have a river," I say, before I know what I'm saying. "And a spot on a raft in the morning, with the sun just rising." An open-lipped smile stretches slowly across his face. "Next time I take you back there, it will be just you and me on the raft." Now I laugh and move because I'm blushing and if I don't move I might pass out. And because there's too much pain in this joy. And too much uncertainty. We walk for the door like we've made an unspoken agreement.You can purchase Eden on Amazon.
About the Author:
Kate Wrath lives in the Southwestern US. Much like other authors, she has both a [family] and a [pet]. [family = three crazy-but-lovable, exceedingly adorable people with longer eyelashes and better sense of humor than Kate] [pet = lovable-but-crazy giant German Shepherd who seems to be able to read, but pretends not to understand when something is required of him] Kate is the author of the E series: E (Book #1), Evolution (Book #2), Eden (Book #3, June 13, 2015), and Jason and Lily (prequel, July 23, 2015). She has also written two fantasy novels that are soon to be released. Kate believes in literature as an art form, world peace, and animal rights, but aspires to write total trash that is full of senseless violence, with characters who eat house pets.
No comments:
Post a Comment