Snap to Grid
By DK Reed
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Red identifies with legendary warrioress, Red Sonja, as a coping mechanism for the difficulties of teen life with ADHD. But even her inner warrioress is a little nervous about moving into Uncle Alistair’s old mansion after seeing an eerily beautiful “Viking ghost” in an upstairs window shortly after his disappearance. And, she soon notices a crow acting strangely and feels like she is being watched.
Uncle Alistair’s graduate student, Erik, trapped in a ghost-like state by means of one of the stones, can only watch her. Unable to be seen or heard, he’s now more like an essence or spirit. Though Red has never been popular, her heroic goodness lends to the beauty of her essence and Erik is quickly smitten. He uses the limited tools available to try and reach her, including his crow friend, Moon. But, will he get to her before the cult? Can she solve the mystery and save him?
About the Author
Reed grew up on a farm in the misty Clinch River valley of the Smoky Mountains. She now lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters (when they aren’t away at college), two dogs and two cats and loves to hike near the Potomac River.
Reed loves the natural world both as a hiker and scientist and this figures heavily in her books. She loves exploring the “what ifs” of science and tries to make the science fiction in her novels plausible and logical. She has a doctorate in biology and has taught students from middle school to college. She is an award-winning technical writer/editor and has co-authored/edited dozens of ecological risk assessments and other scientific books and articles. While she views her work as an applied scientist as problem-solving fun, what she really loves is to explore imaginary worlds and share her intriguing stories.
A few years ago, a serious illness caused her to look at her life afresh. She decided to focus her time and attention more on spiritual growth and joyful living. This led her to return to an earlier love, fiction writing—having fun with science. She spent the next few years honing her fiction writing skills and transitioning into her new career as a sci-fi-fantasy/supernatural romance writer.
"Life is better if you do what you love and share your joy with others.”
Character Interview
What is the name of the book where we'll find you? Can you tell us a little about it?
I’m excited to have you come along on my adventures with the Stones of Bothynus! You’ll meet me in Book One: Snap to Grid.
Ok, so here’s the thing—my family gets drawn into some really creepy stuff when Uncle Alistair disappears. He’s my coolest relative, always reminded me of Merlin or Gandalf. Not that he wears a robe or anything, but he’s a professor of Medieval Religions and, since I was a kid, has always had some intriguing artifact or sacred object to show Annie and me; that’s my little sister, she’s 15 now. Just before this particular adventure began, he’d been researching some ancient stone artifacts and, though I had no idea at the time, these stones were capable of changing one’s sub-atomic particles so that they snapped to different size-scale grids and changed one’s state of existence. I don’t want to give too much away, but let me just say that the altered states of existence are a lot like what you would think of when you think of a ghost or angel—like an ethereal being.
And that brings me to how my adventure began in Snap to Grid. Just after Uncle Alistair disappeared, Annie and I were walking up from the river behind his old mansion and I saw something that I couldn’t explain, something I couldn’t get out of my mind. Ok, I know this sounds bizarre, but I saw a Viking ghost in the upstairs window, an eerily captivating creature staring at me—I was dumfounded! But, I couldn’t get Annie to believe me, so I didn’t even bother telling anyone else. But, that didn’t keep me from investigating…
Tell us a little about yourself. Where do you fit into the story? What should we know about you?
I’m 16 years old now (15 when the book opens) and have always had a vivid imagination. In fact, don’t laugh, but I imagine myself as a hero like legendary warrioress, Red Sonja, you know the Marvel Comics character? I don’t think my dad had any idea of how insightful he was being when he nicknamed me Red when I started taking tae kwon do lessens. But, to be honest, it’s my way of coping with ADHD. I’ve always been impulsive and a little hyperactive and I know that this has cost me some potential friends and that I will never be the most popular kid. But, rather than whine about it, I decided early on to overcome it by being strong and taking charge of my own life.
What do you think of the author? Be honest. We won't tell.
I'm good with the way she portrayed me and she was spot on about my little sister. But I don't know--I guess I'd have to say that I’m a little annoyed with some of the creepy stuff she allowed to happen.
How do you feel about the story you're in?
It was the most fascinating adventure and way cooler than anything I had ever imagined. It started out as kind of sad and scary when Uncle Alistair disappeared, and then got really creepy when crows began doing odd things and Roy showed up everywhere. But, once I started putting two and two together it felt good. And then I got to be transformed by the stones, and wow! Let’s just say that when your molecules make you like an ethereal being, you can press through walls and flight is a real thing—you get the picture.
Do you like being a character in the book?
Again, I can’t say I liked it one bit at first. Hey, there are things out there that we don’t usually see that are not for the faint of heart. But, there are also beautiful things out there. I will just say that when doors are opened, both good and evil can come through, and I’d rather be in the battle than on the sidelines.
How do you see your future? Without giving anything away about the story, naturally.
I see myself continuing to fight for good. As you will soon find, not every being has good motives. Since the stones can produce altered states that make contact with ethereal beings a possibility, this can also lead to problems. The war between good and evil has become a real part of my world. But, not to give too much away, I’ll just say that along with new problems, also come new opportunities to forge meaningful alliances.
What do you know about your author's plans? Can we expect to see you in any future stories?
Absolutely, you will see me in future stories. This is book one of a trilogy. In the next book, my little sister, Annie, gets in over her head when she “borrows” a device that our uncle brilliantly crafted from artifact dust and uses it to shrink herself to explore a hidden cave behind a waterfall on our grandmother’s farm. You may recall that I said that the altered states of being make it possible to see ethereal beings? Well, Annie sees something in the cave and a new adventure begins…
Let's say they make a movie about this book. Who do you want to play you, and why?
Definitely a strong female lead, like Kristen Stewart or Gemma Arterton would be the type. But, I’d like to see someone come from obscurity and burst onto the scene in this—a debut actress. Like me, someone with a quiet strength. She would need to be agile and able to do tae kwon do. It really would make a great movie!
