The Next Best Book Club discussion

Richard wrote: "Hi Lixian,

Thanks for your question. And yes, it makes sense.

I think people write in order to make some sense of trauma. For me, I needed to recall as well as analyze a crucial period in my life..."

You said that we write when we are depressed to articulate the pain and explain it. I agree with you. I think people write when they are depressed or angry or hurt as a way to own the feeling, if you will. If we can reduce it to something that we can explain and share, we have power over it. If we can explain it enough so that others can say they have felt the same way, then we have power over the feeling and power over others!

Kara wrote: "I think one thing that I liked the most about this book is that the characters seem to have at least some root in reality. There is not a pain-free happy ending. There is not a "just click your h..."

Thanks for your comments, Kara. I tried my darndest to create relatable, frail, sympathetic characters. I'm glad that you think I was successful.

Best,
Richard

The writing process has always been fascinating to me. You said that you used real people and events in this book. Did you plan on making Teeny the foil for John? Do you typically plan on the character development and interactions or do you allow the story to take on a life of its own? Or a combination of both?

Kara wrote: "The writing process has always been fascinating to me. You said that you used real people and events in this book. Did you plan on making Teeny the foil for John? Do you typically plan on the ch..."

Excellent questions, Kara, and I'll do my best to answer them.

In the beginning, I set out to create three protagonists: John Lenza, Emma Rue and Dawn Bello. Each character had his/her own story, of course, and events would overlap and intertwine. However, very early on I realized that I was more interested in John's point of view. I had enjoyed listening to John's voice more than Emma and Dawn's, so turned the novel into first person from solely John's vantage point.

Aside from John, Emma and Dawn the ensemble of characters just found their way into the novel. Teeny, Stephanie, Richard Pritchard, Pete Marzo, Havannah and Heather came after several years of working on John, Emma and Dawn.

With Emma and Dawn, I knew that I had strong female characters. The challenge for me was to make them sympathetic and not demonize them.

Stephanie came much later, and she was a beautiful accident.

Thanks for contributing to the dialogue, Kara.

Best,
Richard

Awwww... is it goodbye time already?

Richard, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to hang with us this week!

I really loved the extra insight into the book!

I hope you've enjoyed your time here with us as well.

Goodbye? We were just getting started.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Thank you, Lori, for inviting me to TNBBC.
I had a wonderful time.

Let's do it again.

Best,
Richard