Welcome to The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass by Anna Priemaza Blog Tour!
To celebrate the release of The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass by Anna Priemaza on November 16th, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive guest posts from Anna, as well as 5 chances to win a copy of The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass!
What's Real?
by Anna Priemaza
When I was around ten years old, I started hearing whispers and feeling like my fingers were shrinking--not all the time, but in episodes that I still remember vividly. Sitting in a back room at my grandfather’s cottage, hearing the wordless whispers whirl around my ears, even though I was entirely alone. Reaching forward from the middle back seat of the car, pleading with my mom to hold my hand and stop it from shrinking.
My parents took me to the doctor, who sent me for an EEG, which is where you have a bunch of electrodes attached to your scalp and they monitor things on a nearby computer. I understand now that they simply measure electrical activity, but at ten years old, I worried that they were reading my thoughts. That is when I first learned that the best way to make your brain think as many terrible thoughts as possible is to try not to think a single terrible thought.
The EEG led to nothing except waiting to see if I would grow out of it, which I did--though for many years after, hearing someone whisper would immediately trigger my anxiety.
A number of years ago, I read this article in The Guardian, which explains that childhood hallucinations are actually fairly common and usually nothing to worry about. If I went back in time and told that to my ten-year-old self, though (“Hey, child Anna, don’t worry about the whispering or your fingers shrinking! This is a normal part of childhood and it will pass.”), I don’t think my child self would have found it particularly reassuring.
Knowing the world is one way but having your brain tell you it’s another way is disconcerting. It can be unnerving. For child me, it was terrifying.
In my upcoming book, The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass, Vera has regular episodes of feeling like the world and her brain do not match. Everything around her seems ordinary and unexceptional, but her brain is reeling with inexplicable loss and grief.
Of course, in Vera’s case, it’s possible she’s not simply hallucinating like I did as a kid. It’s possible something truly is wrong with the world. But to find that out, you’ll have to read the book.
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"The narrative concepts are novel, and the characters are easy to feel empathy for... A clever head trip."
– Kirkus Reviews
A mind-bending YA novel about a world where everyone has a bit of magic in them—but some magic is being used to change the world in unspeakable ways.
Vera has a nagging feeling that she’s forgetting something. Not her keys or her homework—something bigger. Or someone. When she discovers her best friend Riven is experiencing the same strange feeling, they set out on a mission to uncover what’s going on. Everyone in Vera's world has a special ability—a little bit of magic that helps them through the day. Perhaps someone’s ability is interfering with their memory? Or is something altering their very reality? Vera and Riven intend to fix it and get back whatever or whomever they’ve lost. But how do you find the truth when you can’t even remember what you’re looking for in the first place? The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass is a cleverly constructed, heartbreaking, and compelling contemporary YA novel with a slight fantasy twist about memory, love, grief, and the invisible bonds that tie us to each other.
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Anna Priemaza is the author of Fan the Fame and Kat and Meg Conquer the World. This is her first piece of speculative fiction. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
GIVEAWAY
- One (1) winner will receive a hardcover of The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass by Anna Priemaza
- US/Can only
- Ends 12/1 at 11:59pm ET
- Check out the other stops on the tour for more chances to win!
Blog Tour Schedule:
November 17th - Bookhounds
November 18th - Book Briefs
November 19th - Pragmatic Mom
November 22nd - A Dream Within a Dream
November 23rd - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I wish I could remember my grandmother more when she lived with us.
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