Notes on Snow Swept: Intersections

This week only, which I will dub: SNOW SWEPT WEEK, I'm giving away 1 million copies of Snow Swept.  Snow Falling (book 2) and Snow Pyre (book 3) are discounted 67% -- so you can get the whole trilogy for less than two bucks.  

Leading up to, and in celebration of SNOW SWEPT WEEK, I'm doing a series of posts about the Snow Swept experience.  A behind the scenes look at what I was thinking about when writing these books.  So read on, and pick up your copy of Snow Swept today!

NOTES ON SNOW SWEPT: INTERSECTIONS

I am fascinated with the seemingly random intersections in life.  Each day, decisions are made, paths are crossed, people and events intersect, and lives are forever altered.   On any given day, we might decide to go for that extra cup of orange juice, or linger for a few extra minutes at a book store.  We might rush home to see the family, or skip lunch to instead take a walk in the park.  Each of these seemingly small decisions will alter the day by only a few minutes (or even seconds), changing the points at which we intersect with other people and events.

Our lives are governed by these intersections, whether we like it or not, and we have all probably  wondered how our lives would be different if we had been a few seconds later, or earlier.  Would we have met this person, or gotten that job?  Would we have avoided this tragedy, or stepped right into that disaster.  Would the intersection with this person or that event have a lasting effect on your life, or would it just be a small experience to file away.

Intersections (some random, some not) play a big part in the Snow Swept Trilogy.  One scene, in particular, comes to mind.  Mae, the heroin of the story (or maybe not?) is sitting on an airplane.  Her day has not been going so well (to say the least), and she happens to be sitting next to a guy named Ryan.  Here's a snip it from the story:

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Mae sat back in her chair with a gasp, waking from the memory dream with a start.   She touched a painful line on the side of her face and felt the indent from where she’d been leaning against the window. 

His name was Adam, and she hadn't thought about him for a very long time, so she was surprised that her dreams had wandered back to him.  Adam was the boy she'd first loved growing up, the boy who'd first held her hand, the first boy she'd kissed.  She remembered that mountain ridge, overlooking October.  The same butterflies she felt when their lips had touched, when she'd tasted and smelled him, fluttered now. 

His boot on her throat.

The dream was tainted and dark.  The feeling of first loves faded, replaced with the dark memories of that night.

 “You alright?” the guy sitting next to her asked.  She looked over, startled to see someone there.  When she’d fallen asleep, the plane was still almost completely empty and they’d been parked next to the airport.  Now, she felt the faint vibrations of the airplane as it cut through the sky.  The seats were filled with people reading, watching movies on their tiny screens, or sleeping.  One of the men sleeping, his head leaned back against the seat and his mouth gaping, looked as though he'd just stepped out of a board meeting.  His white shirt was clean and pressed, his tie was straight and perfectly dimpled, and he was still wearing his suit coat.  The contrast between what he was wearing and his slack jaw caused Mae's eyes to linger a moment too long, and the guy sitting next to her chuckled.

"He was drooling earlier, and talking in his sleep," the guy said. "If I'd known that you were so entertained by sleeping businessmen, I would have woken you up."

Mae chuckled, but then realized that she may have been drooling herself.  She instinctively touched the corners of her mouth and was dismayed to feel a bit of moisture there.  She wiped at her cheek and neck, suddenly very embarrassed to be sitting next to this guy.  He noticed her movements and laughed. 

"Don't worry, you didn't drool that much."  He reached over and pulled a few strands of hair away from her cheek. "Looks like you did get a little in your hair though," he said and then whispered, "and I promise not to tell anyone what you told me while you were sleeping."

She looked away and blushed.  Mae probably should have been worried about anything she might have said in her sleep, even though she was pretty sure that the guy was joking, but she was more embarrassed by the drool than anything.  She glanced back at the guy and saw that he was cute, maybe a little older than her, but cute nonetheless.

“How long was I asleep?” Mae asked finally, after a few seconds.  She ran her hand through her hair and rubbed at the sleep mark on her forehead.

“Well, you were asleep when I got on, and I'd say that we're going to land pretty soon,” he said.  "You must have been really tired, because the take off was a little rough, and they've been blaring on and on over the plane's PA system about the bad weather and how we need to be in our seats, blah, blah, blah."

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Mae's meeting with Ryan sets of a chain reaction that changes the outcome of her story, but little do they know, their paths had been intersecting for much of their lives, crisscrossing until that moment when Ryan ceases to be a minor character, and takes a leading role.

Such it is with life.  People who are random extras in each of our stories become main characters.  Random places and events become major set pieces where our lives are forever altered.  Random or not, by coincidence or design, our lives are subject to intersections.

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Pick up your copies of the Snow Swept Trilogy today!  Free and discounted for the Kindle or Kindle App.  Also available in paper on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or wherever books are sold!