Three Pretty Cool Things:

I haven’t written a blog for a while and that’s largely because I haven’t had anything to say. However, some pretty cool things have happened over the past several days and I’d like to share them. Ready? Here we go…

The first pretty cool thing occurred on Saturday night. I grabbed a really good bottle of wine, picked up some sushi from Mai’s Noodle House, and headed over to my other mother Amy’s house. While there, Amy’s husband Steve (who is sort of like an other father to me, seeing as he continues to ensure that I will not die of radon) talked to me about how he’s currently reading Come and Go So Quickly. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the novel, it’s thick. Steve likes to say that it’s about a thousand pages, but I think it’s actually closer to 700. 

Anyway…

As the night went on and the hour grew later, Steve announced that he ought to head upstairs to bed because he wanted “to find out who Oaklee’s father is.” As the author, this comment gave me an understanding of just how far into the novel Steve actually is — and he’s really making some progress! Then he said, rather offhandedly, “I guess you’re my favorite author since I’ve read more books written by you than I have any other author.” And that sort of made my week, you know? I loved that!

A few days later, a second pretty cool thing occurred when one of my very favorite young people approached me and said that she’s started reading An Illusion of Control and that the first chapter has already changed her opinion about some things. I thought that was incredible, you know? Someone read something I wrote, experienced a perspective outside of her own, and viewed an issue from a different angle… That’s basically why I write!

Well, that and the fact that the characters in my head won’t let me not write. They’ve got stories to tell and I’m their source for telling them. 

I’ll be honest: Sometimes I change my own mind when I write. Just because I’m sharing a perspective doesn’t mean I agree with it, but sometimes when I experience that perspective by writing about it, I realize there actually is some logic to that side of the argument. Like book banning. I’m adamantly opposed to censorship, but when I wrote An Illusion of Control and conveyed the viewpoints of those in favor of banning books, it made me realize why some folks are so scared to make literature available to students. (I like to understand the why of things; if I can understand the why, then I can empathize more easily.)

Alright. Are you ready for the third pretty cool thing? 

After school on Tuesday, I met with a reader of Dog-Eared Life and she had the kindest things to say about both my writing and the character development of Henri. I’m going to insert a SPOILER ALERT at this point because if you haven’t read Dog-Eared Life or An Illusion of Control and you continue to read this blog post, a big reveal is going to be ruined for you. Fair warning.

Still reading? Okay.

One of the storylines of Dog-Eared Life involves the story of Henri, who is a trans woman. The fact that Henri is trans is important to the plot, but it’s not the plot. Henri is Henri, you know? She’s funny and kind and full of insecurities… but she’s also incredibly brave. She’s the type of brave that I aspire to be. I mean, Henri traveled to the woods of West Virginia all by herself in order to catch her favorite band, Flannel Lobster, at Off the Grid. That’s awesome. I want to be the type of person who will travel great distances to catch one of my favorite bands. Alone. I want to be like Henri. 

Over coffee, my reader shared that she felt Dog-Eared Life was so powerful because Henri’s story was so real. And she appreciated the fact that the novel includes a trans person while not focusing exclusively on the fact that Henri is trans. The story is much bigger than that. And then she said to me, “I want to know how someone who has never lived that life so accurately captured the struggles of someone who has lived that life.” And hearing that? Well, it was one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever received. Ever.