The Whole Story

Today's plan for a post about Devin's Green Brood has to wait until tomorrow, I'm afraid. I have book club tonight, and too much else to do to give it the time and attention it deserves, because I love that crazy London family, and want the post to be worthwhile. So that can be our big Friday blowout.

The quote above was sent to me by my friend Suz, and it's such a perfect quote for Tango. Definitely the sort of thing he needs to hear. I've been getting up early this week, writing before it's light, and hitting awesome word counts before I even go to the barn. Give me a week, and I'll have this thing written. Give me another week, and I'll have it edited. The light at the end of the tunnel!

The thing about writing a book is: it takes time. When you read a book, you devour it in a few days, and all of it is immediate and fresh. But when you're writing - I've been working on Loverboy since January - you have to go back and reference earlier chapters, keep lists, go back and rewrite...it loses its overall impact. Last week, I started sending chapters to my First Reader, and her reactions have been fun. According to her, the book is "dark," "heavy," "hard," and I "really put it out there." In short, this book is half horror show. I think anyone who likes and cares about Tango will find it worth the pain. But I know it might be too much for some people - that's the risk in telling the "whole story."

See, I would like to think that Tango's story is nothing but fiction, but sadly, his story is someone's real story. Someone out there, guarding secrets as closely as Tango. That's why I think it's important for authors to "go there." Because even if it didn't happen to you, or to me, it happened to someone. And that deserves acknowledgement.

One of the things I've enjoyed so much about our #DogDaysofSummer event is hearing from all of you; hearing which characters you identify with the most, who spoke to you, who you aligned yourself with. As an author, you have no idea who you might reach with your work, or which parts of your story will speak to a reader. That's a huge responsibility, and I take it very seriously. Not everyone identifies with the same things, appreciates the same things, or is attracted to the same things. It's so exciting for me to hear readers tell me they identify with Sam, or Ava, or Aidan, or any of them. Within a rather extreme framework, I always try to tell true stories. Because though they aren't mine, they're someone's stories, and I think they need to be shared. I'm shocked, and humbled, and grateful every day that I get a chance to share with all of you.