We’re in the business of introducing you to unforgettable stories that will change your life forever. That’s why we’re bringing you an excerpt from Fire Color One, a stunning book about a 16-year-old arsonist named Iris who learns that her millionaire father – a man she’s never met – is far different than the man she’s been told to hate. Told in absolutely gorgeous and stirring language, Fire Color One is an unputdownable story of family dysfunction, heartache, and redemption. Read on for a letter from the author, an explanation of what inspired the epigraph of Fire Color One, and the first chapter of the book!

Letter from author Jenny Valentine

Dear Reader,

I’m glad this book finally made it to you.  It took a long time to write, because life (and death) got in the way.

For a year, my father and I were both very ill.

I survived and he did not.

At his funeral, I saw who he was, not just to me, but to all sorts of people, from all aspects of life. I knew my dad pretty well, and I also hardly knew him, and that surprised me.

I tried really hard to write a different book. It was about a boy, for a start, and it wasn’t about losing your dad. I wasn’t ready to write about that.  But Iris kept knocking and finally I heard her.  She didn’t know her father like I knew mine.  But she still had to lose him, and find him again.

My dad used to joke that there were no fathers in my books.  He’d say, “What have I done to deserve this?”

This one is for him.

I hope it’s been worth the wait.

JV

The inspiration behind Fire Color One’s epigraph

Jenny Valentine: Fire Color One is also about Art (with a capital A), and the book takes its name from Yves Klein’s famous painting. For me, this story is about the power Art has to save and change us, sometimes forever, sometimes for less than a second, and that in the end both forever and less than a second are as good as each other when it comes to being changed. It’s not about money or the market. Art belongs to everybody. It is generosity itself.  It’s about the magic energy that comes with making and taking Art, in all its forms.

This particular quote, and the graffiti presentation of it, is about living in the moment, and celebrating the very fact that it won’t last.

Thank you to the person who felt the need to write this on a wall.

Now read the prologue and chapter one of Fire Color One!

Can’t wait for more? Get your copy of Fire Color One!