Themes and Metaphors

by Betsy Ashton

Betsy Ashton, born in Washington, DC, was raised in Southern California where she ran wild with coyotes in the hills above Malibu. She protested the war in Vietnam, burned her bra for feminism, and is a steadfast Independent. She is a writer, a thinker, the mother of three grown stepchildren, companion and friend. She mentors writers and writes and publishes fiction. Her first mystery, Mad Max Unintended Consequences, was published in February 2013. The second in the series, Uncharted Territory, A Mad Max Mystery, came out in April 2015. In her spare time, she is the president of the state-wide Virginia Writers Club. She loves riding behind her husband on his motorcycle. You’ll have to decide for yourself if and where she has a tattoo.

December 3, 2010


I’ve been playing with themes of redemption and rebirth in my second Mad Max novel. With a working title of Shades of Pale, it takes place in a devastated landscape, devoid of color. And because Earth has a wonderful way of healing itself, I found one picture of flowers I took at Cook’s Inlet in Alaska to be the perfect metaphor. I loved the bravery of the poppy, all alone in a field of white and purple.

I also saw the poppy as a manifestation of differentness. Another theme in Max 2 is racism. How hard would it be for the purple and white flowers to gang up and drive the poppy away? It stood its ground and survived. As do some of the minority characters in Max 2.

Yup, I find inspiration everywhere I look.

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