The idea for Violet’s Mountain came to me as an image. A woman standing on top of a mountain of hoarded things. A trash pile, but more orderly. And huge. Her hair streams out behind her in the wind. Seagulls circle overhead. The whole scene is blue, grey, greens, like the ocean.
She can’t come down, won’t come down. The mountain is her creation, but also her trap. She’s stuck there out of duty and remorse and guilt and longing and sadness, because who else will keep the mountain standing? Who else?
That image stuck with me—trapped girl, in need of a rescue. Have you ever tried to rescue someone who piles things around their grief? To stop someone who is piling things up and up and up around themselves. Building a fortress to hide behind, ever tried it?
The girl on the mountain believes she is needed there. To hold it all together. She’s needed. And protected. And fine, thank you very much. Move along.
And there’s the theme. Can Violet be rescued from her mountain? And how, if she refuses to leave? It was a challenge, furthered by wanting Violet to be a strong female character.
Could Violet be rescued and still be strong? Could her rescuer use force and still be worthy of forgiveness?
Yes. Because he becomes her mountain after all.
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