This Is Not Twilight Or The Hunger Games

I have no desire to copy.

I’ve done that before and had fun with that.

But The Solitary Tales doesn’t copy. It uses familiar elements of different genres and storylines, sure. But it’s very, very distinctly me.

Is that a selling point? Of course not.

I had a little idea of what I wanted to do when I first dreamed up this series. But it’s become much, much more.

Not necessarily the story. That’s remained the same, even as the backstory and the plotlines and the mysteries have grown and evolved.

No.

This series is all about Chris Buckley.

It’s about a teenager learning about life and love. It’s about his emotions throughout that journey. And I feel I remained true to those emotions. Curious, terrified, sarcastic, passionate, sad, wandering . . . these describe Chris.

Hopefully he’s likable enough to become a hero.

Hopefully his occasional idiotic actions will still make us want to cheer him on.

Hopefully his age and his outlook won’t matter to the reader.
My hope is that there will be readers still wondering what it feels like to be sixteen or seventeen. And there will be other readers who will have a hard time trying to remember what those ages felt like.

I want the reader to feel 16 or 17 again.

Amidst a crazy saga full of light and darkness, that’s what I wanted to get at with The Solitary Tales.

It’s about a teenager trying to deal with life.

Every year there will be a new trend in publishing. Movie studios will clamor for the next big thing. Readers will discover something else new and exciting. That’s just reality.

But being a teenager isn’t a trend and isn’t a genre. It’s part of life.
Today I sent Hurt to my editor. I’ll still be spending a lot more time in Solitary, North Carolina working on the two books coming out in 2012. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell a few more backstories as well. But Chris’s high school story is finished.
My hope is that there will be many, many readers out there who get a chance to read and enjoy Chris’s story.
If you’re one of them, spread the word. I can shout all day about how great this series is, but I’m just the crazy author.
The crazy, exhausted, and satisfied author.

5 Comments

  1. I love this post,I really enjoy the Solitary Tales and I'm constantly checking your blog for more info on the new books. I think that while Solitary does have the same elements as other books,but the way you weaved the story together created something fresh and new. When I first read Solitary I knew I had found a very unique book. That almost felt like it was written for me. I related to Chris on a very deep level,and This is coming from a seventeen year old girl's point of view. i especially loved how he never understood the girls around him.

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