Y for Yellow

One day left for A to Z. Today is Y Day, and I pick YELLOW. It's one of my favorite colors, representing energetic forces, optimism, fire and sun. I realize that in both of my latest novels the sun is a player.
In the novel I just completed, the main character, who I'll only call by her moniker, Sungirl, actually throws a Yellow Party. She's been an outcast but has a new chance to blossom, after coming to Brooklyn, and a new school. Here's her watching classmates make their entrance:

"Little by little, people filter in. From the vantage of the pagoda, I watch their yellow dresses drift over the green of the park and cycle in to the party like so many sunny finches coming to roost. Guys too, with funky yellow jackets, piss-elegant mustard ties, cheesy faux gold sunglasses and hats. One guy is even wrapped in yellow crime scene tape! Still another dude is jumping around in a felt banana costume. It’s exhilarating! I’m filled with a heady sense of pride in my creation.
“Does your party have to do with the sun?” asks the boy wrapped in crime scene tape.
“Well, duh, she’s Sungirl,” Tory answers for me."

In Fireseed One, my YA thriller set on earth in 2089, the sun has become so intense that a dome has been constructed in the sky to filter out the damaging rays. Here's a snippet:
"I decide to take my father’s old Sail Tern for a change. There’s something to be said for old-fashioned boats you have to help steer. The wind’s just right. It whips up frothy peaks to keep me going at a rapid clip, but not enough to make the Tern pitch. The sun pulses hard against the dome-capped sky. Each strobe shifts the tint of the waves—teal, ultramarine, brown, and then back to teal. Just one day of sun so far, but thankfully there’s a MagiCool antiradiation dome in the sky over the whole of Vostok Station, constraining its fury."
And Fireseed's very last paragraph goes back to that sun image. No spoilers though. You must read it for yourself. In both tales, these sunny scenes turn dark and terrifying. But the sun serves as an early beacon of hope.

Yellow, essential photonic bliss. What does yellow mean to you? What's your power color?


On a wonderful side note, the eBook version of my YA thriller, Fireseed One is finally (as of Sunday morning) on sale at Amazon, iTunes and B&N for only .99!!! Anyone looking for a good spring read that will keep them up at night? Plus, we just received our 20th 5-star review. Thanks, reviewers! Link to eBook on Amazon here.