Natalie Parker's BEWARE THE WILD debuts October 21, 2014 (Harper Teen). Here's a little bit about the book:
There’s something about the swamp in Sticks, Louisiana. Something different, something haunting . . . something alive. Everyone knows this, and everyone avoids going near it. And even the Mardi Gras–bead-decorated fence that surrounds it keeps people away.
Until one morning when Sterling Saucier’s older brother Phineas runs into the swamp . . .
And doesn’t return.
Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out in his place, and all of a sudden, no one in Sticks remembers Phin at all. They treat Lenora May as if she’s been Sterling’s sister forever.
Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp’s done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance—but first she’s got to find someone who believes her.
Heath Durham might be that someone. A loner shrouded behind rumors of drug addiction, Heath has had his own strange experience with the swamp. He and Sterling will have to piece together enough bits of memory and ancient swamp lore to get to the truth. But as the wild swamp encroaches on their town, Sterling and Heath may find a lot more than they expected . . . and Phin may be lost to them forever.
The concept of the novel is spooky and fabulous, and makes me nervous to go around swamps in Louisiana, or swamps anywhere for that matter. Swamps are just so...swampy.
I've gotten to know Natalie a little bit this past year by participating in two of her Critique Camps. I put two manuscripts through camps and learned a great deal about giving and receiving critique. Natalie has an excellent editorial eye. And I suggest that anyone who wants to put the first 10k of their novel to the test--consider Crit Camp!
