Because everyone craves a good read in these difficult times, here’s a book suggestion. In Will Rise from Ashes by Jean Grant, a young widow and her nine-year-old autistic son embark on a risky road trip and meet a fellow traveler. Can they help one another? 

Living is more than mere survival.

Young widow AJ Sinclair has persevered through much heartache. Has she met her match when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, leaving her separated from her youngest son and her brother? Tens of thousands are dead or missing in a swath of massive destruction. She and her nine-year-old autistic son, Will, embark on a risky road trip from Maine to the epicenter to find her family. She can’t lose another loved one.

Along the way, they meet Reid Gregory, who travels his own road to perdition looking for his sister. Drawn together by AJ’s fear of driving and Reid’s military and local expertise, their journey to Colorado is fraught with the chaotic aftermath of the eruption. AJ’s anxiety and faith in humanity are put to the test as she heals her past, accepts her family’s present, and embraces uncertainty as Will and Reid show her a world she had almost forgotten.

Jean Grant talks to Shirley Goldberg about her book, now out in audio.

 People kept telling me to write my story.                               

The adage goes, “Write what you know.” But what does this really mean?

My background is in science (undergrad: biology and marine science, grad: microbiology, immunology), and I love traveling and hiking. The idea of Will Rise from Ashes came from a bit of my own life (as a parent with an autistic child) and my love of nature. People kept telling me to write my story. I asked myself: What would that look like? Would anyone care? How can I make it into fiction? What would happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted? Volcanoes are a constant topic in our household. With a late March snowstorm this past week, my son was already outside rebuilding his snow volcanoes, gleefully happy for the spring snow. Like his parents, he has a love for nature and the simple things.

Slowly the story begun to take shape around five years ago.

Then, we planned the vacation of a lifetime: a tour of the volcanic northwest, ending at Yellowstone, home to the supervolcano. It was a memorable trip. I was walking on ground zero—research moments were everywhere. We also toured other geothermal wonders throughout the Pacific Northwest on that trip, and it inspired my first article for a family magazine (I’ve written several more since). Sapphire-blue Crater Lake was one of my favorite places. Meandering through the observation areas of Mount St. Helens gave me shivers. I returned home with piles of books and picturesque memories and dug into the story.

My novels tend to have journeys of the body and heart, and this one takes my characters from Maine to Colorado on path of heartache, healing, and hope. Talk about a road trip. Writing what I know meant science, journeys, and parenting a special needs child. My protagonist AJ Sinclair and the story went through many painful revisions, the most of any book of mine. My first draft was a Jean-story. I used the story as therapy for the ups and downs of life with a hardworking husband, the triumphs and challenges with a special needs child, and some of my own internal demons.

I poured my soul into the book. Then I let it sit. I gave it to different rounds of beta readers. I killed my darlings. Lots of slicing, dicing, rewriting, querying, and re-querying, until ultimately it landed the lap of my editor at a small press (I also write romance). My editor even suggested a title change. I deepened my secondary character, Reid—I fleshed him out, and sent him on his own redemption path. I morphed the story from Jean’s story into AJ’s story. She became her own person. Part of the story is also told from her son Will’s point of view. For those sections, I relied on my own son to guide me. Not everyone with autism (or their family) has the same life experience, so this book is just one mother and son’s journey.

And there you have it—how I went from a write what you know to a fictional story that took on its own unique tale. I hope my readers enjoy AJ and Will’s journey in Will Rise from Ashes as much as I do.

Excerpt from Will Rise From the Ashes 

Even from far away, I recognized the man’s plaid long-sleeved shirt and the large backpack, but now he was walking alongside a bike on his approach.“Hey, look! It’s that guy you drove past this morning!”

  I shuddered inwardly. Well, karma just bit me in the butt.

“How did he catch up with us?” Motherly instinct took over as I rose, my legs wobbly. “Will, stay there. Here, take this,” I said, handing him the tire iron.

“We already tried that, Mom.”

“Not for that, Will.”

He scratched his brown hair, which was overdue for a cut, and looked at me, confusion wrinkling his brow.

“Be my wizard, Will. It’s your sword.”

“Wizards have wands.”

“Will…”

The circuit connected. “Oh…yes, Mom, I’ll protect you!”

I smiled faintly. “Thank you, honey.” I didn’t want to explain further that it was me protecting him. I didn’t want to say that if something happened, to run and hide in the woods. Because he would run and hide. Then what? Who would come help?

I shoved my hand into my front jeans pocket to nestle my fingertips around the pocket knife I had given Harrison for our wedding anniversary. The man slowed his bicycle as he drew nearer. He gave me an understated, yet significant, nod. The nod of understanding, of kindness. I didn’t buy it.

“Hello, again,” he said.

Ouch.        

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