Guest Post: Heather Smith

The Quiet Ones and No Earthly Ship

I am a bit of a nerd. Okay, more than a bit. I not only read young adult stories as an adult, but I actively go and seek out a terrible subsection of writing know as… fan fiction. Yes. There, I said it. Feel free to berate me now. Wait, you are still reading? Then you must be a geek too! Yay! Nice to meet you. Now, allons-y!

I read fan fiction. All kinds.Ones on books, ones on movies, ones on television shows, and even ones on comics. Wait, you do know what fan fiction is, right? You don’t? Well, think of it as normal people’s versions of things they love. Kind of like those weird Pride And Prejudice And Zombies books that are so popular. Take something already created and mess with it. Make it your own. Make it end the way you want or have the characters you love to see together get married or have kids or turn into flesh eating monsters. Whatever.

So, to my point.While reading fan fiction, I ran across an author and fell in love with her writing. Her pen name is Spookysister7. I read through her work, even some of the genres I’m not really a fan of. For some reason, though, her writing struck me. I had to read more. So, I followed her link back to her website. Voila. Some more stories to sink my teeth into. Original ones, not based on any book or movie. That is when I ran across the two stories I am about to tell you about.

The first story, The Quiet Ones, is quintessential young adult fiction in its most basic form. Really a sort of Spider-man spin off, this story takes on a life of its own. At first I thought it was going to be a simple do-gooder fluff piece. And then it changed. I love the subtext here. Masks and identities.Fear and passion.Even sexual tension.All packed into a very short story. It makes me want to find the writer, shake her, and insist she rewrite it longer!

Excerpt :

Spider bites hurt. I was working in the lab, growing plants for some stupid “acid rain” experiment. No, duh, acid’s going to kill the plants! Anyways, it bit me. Sounds like some comic book story, but it’s true. I was bit by an irradiated spider.

The second story, No Earthly Ship, is a little longer. More misunderstood princess than comic book hero in this one, still it is worth reading. The heroine of the story reminds me less of Sleeping Beauty and more of Ariel; more than a little rebellious and headstrong, with no wish to fit in. I love the monsters in this tale. I always hoped the author would include a sketch of them but no luck. The tale of hopeless love and dangerous politics is unfinished, but at least she left off at a good point. Well worth a look.

Excerpt:

The top of the spire tumbled from its perch, crashing to pieces on the ground. Out of the water before me raised an orange serpent. Its scales were as big as a hand span, and its yellow-orange eyes seemed to burn with an inner fire as it gazed upon me. I cowered back into my hole, pressing into the soft moss and rough stone. Its tongue flicked out, tasting my fear, and the sharp point of its arrow-shaped tail waved like a pendulum behind it. Its childlike arms sported long, curved claws, and I remembered my mother’s stories. The Eah. When the Other transformed into their true selves, they became this; deadly claws, massive size, and a poison-tipped tail.

Reading these two stories will not take you very long and it will be time well spent. The original website is cluttered and chaotic and has not been touched in quite a while. The author still writes, both on fanfiction.net and her own site Twitterpated by Spookysister7, though most of her writing is now less young adult and of a more romantic sort. Still, I enjoy her style and hope she keeps writing.

Author Bio:

Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to nanny service by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.