THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Elise Howard)

If you've read this intro already, by all means please scroll down 

to today's guest, my lovely editor, Elise Howard.

As many of you know, THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, my second novel for young adults officially comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question, “Karma or coincidence? Random or something more magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.

- gae

So, how cool is this? Today, I have my amazing Algonquin Young Readers editor, Elise Howard, of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO fame.

Elise, with ARC's of SUMMER at NCTE '13 in November.

Um, okay, maybe MY book isn't her only claim to fame, because, trust me, she has a long trail of beautiful books she's been part of, and everything she touches with her editorial magic becomes expert and beautiful storytelling (although she reminded me with her post that she's an editor not a writer ;).

Take a moment to scroll through her brand new AYR teen list so far. It's good reading!

Anyway, Elise had recently shared this short, sweet gem of a story with a friend, and when she heard about my blog series, invited me to share it with you, here, now:

My dad and I shared a love of gardening. He especially liked to find unusual and useful plants and tell me about them or give them to me, fritillaries among them. 

The summer after he died, single fritillaries appeared in my garden and in my mom's -- in spots where they had never grown before. 

And, today, on Valentine's Day, this picture (yes, fritillaries) popped up when I turned the page on my calendar at work:

- Elise

Please check out all of Elise's books and, of course, mine, out in less than two weeks! Also, don't stop here, scroll down through the rest of the week's posts, a tale of a karmic clock, an encounter (or not) with a feather and the ghost of Lincoln, a sign from cousin Skeeter, and a message delivered from son gone too soon. THANKS TO ALL the writers who participated this week!

xox gae