accomplishedAccording to my file dates, "Pretty Little Dead Girl," the song that introduced most people to Rose, was written on December 17th, 2004. The first story appeared in The Edge of Propinquity in January of 2010. Six years to get from song to story, and that wasn't the end of it. Those original stories have been rewritten and revised and ripped up and ripped away until their bones showed through, and now, on May 6th, 2014, you finally get to see the actual shape of things. It only took a little under ten years.
According to Publishers Weekly, which got a few of the facts of Rose's complicated origin wrong, but got the feeling right...
"McGuire (the InCryptid series) brings empathy, complexity, and a shivering excitement to this well-developed campfire tale. Many stories have been told about a hitchhiker, a young woman—sometimes dressed in a prom dress or jeans and a T-shirt—who roams the highways in search of a ride. Rose Marshall is that hitcher, also known as the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road. Rose has two purposes: one is helping the newly dead make the transition between states, and the other is hunting down Bobby Cross, the man who killed her in order to gain immortality. This is the story of her death, and her life. This mesmerizing tale had its beginnings in the short story The Edge of Propinquity; McGuire has smoothly turned it into a powerful blend of ghost story, love story, and murder mystery, wrapped in a perfectly neat package."
One week.
Rose is finally almost home.
April 30 2014, 09:48:15 UTC 3 years ago
(Yes, it was tempting to save a copy of the original versions, since they WERE enjoyable reads on The Edge Of Propinquity and I also enjoy the "Where did they come from" game, seeing the evolution through various stages. But I honored your request that we not do that, and shortly I'll have the Improved Versions in my hot little hands, and I know the wait will have been worth it.)
April 30 2014, 21:52:25 UTC 3 years ago