Staff Report
A former Hays High Spanish teacher has published a novel based on a web series she wrote and directed while an instructor at the school.
Amy Quick Parrish’s book “Into Dust – The Thunderbird Chronicles” is a supernatural action/adventure set in West Texas. The story follows teenager Janey Santiago, who inherits her vigilante father’s mask and mysterious abilities and sets out to defeat the crime lords that killed him.
Parrish said in an emailed response the inspiration for the story came when she first heard the song “Pistolero” by Juno Reactor.
“Whenever I listened to it, I pictured a girl flying across the desert. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. I started wondering how a girl would get special abilities,” Parrish said. “My grandparents had both died recently, so the idea of exploring death, grief and loss was something I was thinking about a lot.”
The web series was shot, in part, at Hays High School as well as other locations in and around Austin.
The series featured many local actors including Lehman High School graduate Erin Taylor and Hays High School graduates Zach Guerrero, Denise Garcia and Jess Rae.
It also featured retired Hays High School French teacher Marjie Kelly, Barton Middle School teacher Judy Parsons as well as former Hays CISD curriculum coordinator Mark Parrish.
“I’m really excited about this book,” Parrish said. “It digs deeper into the characters than the web series was able to do. There was so much more of the story I wanted to tell.”
