The aftermath of the eruption of Mount St. Helens intrigues Phillip Stark, a young science teacher in my novel, Grey Pine. Phillip tries to balance his wonder and awe about what happened to Mount St. Helens against the devastation caused by the six-inch ash fall in his small town east of the Cascades.
You’ve probably seen the photos of Mount St. Helens on a clear, spring day. The serenity of Mount St. Helens was obliterated without warning by twenty hours of darkness in May 1980. I don't have to imagine it, I was near Mount St. Helens that day, and I believe the setting for Grey Pine offers an accurate, vivid, vicarious experience of what actually transpired "over here" on that well-known day in l980.
The ash fall caused by Mount St. Helens’ eruption, of course, was not a singular event, since the residue affected us for months to come. And so it is in Grey Pine, where the omnipresent ash complicates Phillip's life constantly from May 18, to the last day of the story in late August. Phillip is a multi-conflicted character who deals with some grim realities, including his father's alcoholism and his own battle with suicidal, then homicidal depression.
If you are interested in the aftermath of Mount St. Helens, and/or you like semi-historical, serious, gritty fiction not devoid of some comic relief, take a minute to check out some free excerpts of Grey Pine.