Nancy Werlin
Books:
- Impossibly
- Extraodinary
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Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school, and the two girls become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory's magnetic older brother, Ryland, shows up during their junior year. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe but a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself.
Soon she'll discover the shocking truth about Ryland and Mallory: that these two are visitors from the faerie realm who have come to collect on an age-old debt. Generations ago, the faerie queen promised Pheobe's ancestor five extraordinary sons in exchange for the sacrifice of one ordinary female heir. But in hundreds of years there hasn't been a single ordinary girl in the family, and now the faeries are dying. Could Phoebe be the first ordinary one? Could she save the faeries, or is she special enough to save herself?
Today I have a guest post with Extraordinary author, Nancy Werlin. I asked Nancy:
What she considered 'extraordinary' to be? And if she had to choose, would she choose to be ordinary or extraordinary?
What do I consider extraordinary? For me, it's a complicated question. There's the surface answer, the obvious answer: people that do amazing and unique things -- become president, invent a new heating system, explore deep jungle, solve mathematical theorems, swim oceans -- are extraordinary. You can't argue with that.
But I'm more interested in finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. I think that all humans possess qualities and abilities that are nothing short of astonishing, and that can be life- and soul-changing if they are deployed. One is resilience; after difficulty, after trauma, we have an instinct toward recovery and healing. Another is the ability to bond with others, to love. Yet another is the instinct toward joy. And of course there are many more, and we all have them; they are our gifts. We use them in navigating life. Some of us learn to use them more skillfully than others -- perhaps because they have *had* to. It is these people that I myself find most extraordinary -- people who have learned to live their lives with what I can only call grace.
Now, your second question is sort of a trick question -- if I had to choose, would I want to be ordinary or extraordinary? Again, there's the surface answer. Who wouldn't choose to be obviously extraordinary in life? To be one of those people who are clearly special and different? Smarter, stronger, more beautiful, with charisma, and so on?
Or would I rather know, at the end of my life, that I had learned something of grace?
At the end of Extraordinary, we see Phoebe, who was so convinced of her own ordinariness, who was -- most readers would think -- comprehensively broken. But from somewhere in herself she has found the resilience to stand strong, and to behave with generosity and love. She isn't broken after all. She has found within herself the means toward healing. And yes, toward grace.
Thanks so much Nancy for stopping by!
I also have a finished copy of Extraordinary for one lucky winner!
Official Contest information:
- to enter, please fill out the form below
- entrants must be 13 years of age or older
- contest deadline is October 15, 2010
- contest open to US residents*
- ONE ENTRY PER PERSON!
- check out my Contest Policy/Privacy Policy
Thanks to Penguin for providing the giveaway prize!