Here's the Author of the Month for April! I'm using this social media manager called IFTTT now, and it emails me and yells at me on the last day of every month to make sure I do this XD
Okay, the Author of the Month for April is: frombluetored!
Her beautiful combination of angst, psychology, and suspense is so powerful it's hard to handle. Seriously, I often have to take a break in the middle of a five thousand word chapter because I just CAN'T.
The first of her stories that I discovered was Inside the Ward: A Study of Panem's Mentally Ill. With out ruining the effect of her storytelling, the AU story focuses on college senior Finnick Odair, who is struggling to decide what to write his final dissertation on when a shocking discovery hits surprisingly close to home. The decision is suddenly clear: he wants to write about Panem, Florida's Capitol Institute: the most controversial inpatient treatment center in the area. Somehow this idea leads him to checking himself into a six month stay, and the story is her exploration of that.
"We've talked about this in secret, the faculty members that is. And we know there's only one thing we really can do at this point. We have to make the public aware. We have to thoroughly investigate and present our case with so much evidence that not even the most extravagant lawyer in the country can dismiss the case. We need witnesses; we need to see what goes on in there. But the problem is that no one comes out. The only ones who do are not even in the records of having ever been there once they're gone, and, as you saw, are rendered speechless for the rest of their lives."
Finnick grasped the back of his head and breathed slowly through his mouth, wishing he had never decided to get up early to go downtown for breakfast this morning.
"You say you want a thesis, boy?" Dr. Abernathy said suddenly, his voice sparked with a newfound energy. Finnick lifted his head slowly. Dr. Abernathy continued. "You do it. Check yourself in. Pretend you're unstable, see what goes on. Write about it. If you want a way to guarantee a seat in grad school, this is it."
Beginning of the end. Also, some pretty interesting surprises in Finnick's character are included. Love it.
I also really like her story The Art of Escaping. It's a recap of Finnick and Annie's relationship, and although it's far from my headcanon, the intricacies of their characters is beautifully written.
Definitely check out frombluetored's work, she's an amazing author with great potential!
-cindella204
