Rashomon Archives - JP McLean

It’s Release day for The Gift: Betrayal! The latest book in the Gift Legacy leaves home today. It’s interesting how each book crosses that threshold with a personality. The first one, Secret Sky (formerly Awakening), was shy and tentative; Hidden Enemy (formerly Revelation), the second one, sprinted through the gate like a colt on new legs; the third book, Burning Lies (formerly Redemption), pawed the ground then charged off; number four, Lethal Waters (formerly Penance), crept out in the middle of the night. Betrayal swaggers. It’s got attitude.

Chronologically speaking, Betrayal isn’t the “next” book in the Gift Legacy series. It’s more like book 1.5. It’s Awakening Redux—this time told in Jackson Delaney’s voice. This is his story. Jackson was Emelynn Taylor’s love interest in Awakening. He was controversial, his role was pivotal and his story demanded to be told. You may not forgive him, when you turn the last page, but you won’t forget him.

Warning: reading Betrayal will spoil Secret Sky (formerly Awakening) for you. I recommend you read Secret Sky first. Here’s what two of my favourite authors have to say about Betrayal:

JP McLean possesses her own unique gift: the ability to bewitch her readers with her boundless imagination.

– Elinor Florence, Bestselling Author of Bird’s Eye View

Exciting action and conflict of loyalties make this a fantastic page-turner.

– Kristina Stanley, Bestselling Author of the Stone Mountain Mystery Series.

And if you’d like to read Secret Sky first, you can pick it up with one click right here. And if ebooks aren’t your thing, click on the cover for more purchase options.

On sideways rain and writing: The winds are howling again today, which means our Internet is out, the power is threatening to call it quits, and the rain is coming at us sideways. I’m not complaining; stormy days without the Internet are perfect for distraction-free writing. Well…if you don’t count fir cones pelting down on the steel roof as distractions.

I’m re-visiting Awakening (now titled Secret Sky). This time I’m writing from Jackson Delaney’s perspective. He was Emelynn Taylor’s love interest in the first book. Looking at the same story from another character’s perspective is an interesting exercise. The treatment is referred to as Rashomon, named after a film by the same name directed by Akira Kurosawa.

The Rashomon effect refers to contradictory versions of the same event. I’m taking some liberties with my Rashomon treatment. Jackson’s perspective is not contradictory, and the time frame is not identical, but his version will reveal information neither the reader nor Emelynn would have been privy to when Awakening/Secret Sky unfolded. It’s giving me an opportunity to fill out Jackson’s world with the characters and circumstances that motivated his actions in Awakening/Secret Sky.

It’s been fun to write from the male perspective for a change, but its a challenge. I’m constantly weighing Jackson’s observations and thoughts for believability. In my experience, men use different and fewer words to describe objects, scents and sounds. Their frame of reference is different. I need those differences to colour Jackson’s voice so that he springs off the page.

Speaking of which, Jackson’s calling, so I must go before we really do lose power. The storm outside isn’t letting up. Each time I look up from the keyboard, another seagull soars past. It looks like they’re playing in the wind, riding it like a roller coaster. At times they hang mid-air as they spread their wings into the force of it. Wish I could fly like that.