Monday, May 6, 2013

Introducing "Ontario"






For today’s post I wanted to show you a bit of Ontario’s world – her art class. One of Ontario’s favorite things to do is draw or paint. Art is her emotional outlet and it means a lot to her. Here’s part of a scene when Ontario is in her art class at school. Her teacher has just introduced a new exercise where the students hear short bits of music and in a small amount of time each person tries to depict what the song is saying to them:
We waited in anticipation for the music to start, and when it did we all laughed, including Mrs. Wheeler. It was the theme song from American Idol.
      “Well, get to it!” Mrs. Wheeler said, and we all began. Most of didn’t get very far since the opening song was only about thirty seconds long, but we all obediently got to work. The next song was Poker Face by Lady Gaga, which again brought some laughs and also some moans. Next was the school fight song, Stairway to Heaven, and the National Anthem.
      Silently we painted away, song after song. I enjoyed the activity very much and I really tried hard to paint what my own emotions were telling me, not what the words were saying. The last song that played was Blue Suede Shoes, by Elvis Presley.
      “Really?” I said, out loud accidentally. I got several weird looks from people and hurriedly turned back to my work. I tried hard to think of something other than Austin, but that was definitely where my emotions were taking me so I gave in and started painting, trying to depict the way that he danced. This time I really got lost in the music and just let it guide my hand.
      “Alright!” Mrs. Wheeler said as the song ended. She stood up and turned off the CD player. “What did you come up with?” She looked around excitedly.  “Who wants to share what they drew for the first song? Is there anyone who drew something other than a singer?” she asked with a laugh.
      To our surprise a hand shot up in the back. It was Chad, a tall and gangly guy.
      “Okay Chad, what did American Idol say to you?” Mrs. Wheeler asked with a smile. Chad held up his picture and we laughed. He had painted stick figures of a man and a young girl fighting over a remote.
      “Would you care to explain?” Mrs. Wheeler asked.
      “It’s my Dad and little sister,” Chad said. “Every time it comes on my Dad tries to change it and my sister throws a royal fit.”
      “Very nice,” said Mrs. Wheeler and we clapped.
      “Alright, what about Lady Gaga?”
      This time several hands shot into the air so Mrs. Wheeler let them all share. We laughed at the various pictures we saw, including one that showed Lady Gaga holding I sign that said “I’m insane and I know it” and another that showed the creator at a concert freaking out.
To learn more about Ontario and her story, buy the book today, now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle formats!

Author Bio
Heidi Nicole Bird has been writing for as long as she can remember and it is her favorite thing in the world. Heidi is a regular NaNoWriMo participant and is mostly a young adult fantasy writer, but also likes to write juvenile fiction and other genres. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Brigham Young University and she looks forward to exploring the genre of historical fiction. Heidi lives in Utah with her family and three dogs, and loves working from home as a full time writer.
Also by Heidi Nicole Bird, Through the Paper Wall
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