I haven’t been talking about my novella that is about to released soon. So I’m going to write an entire blog post about it.
This novella started out as a little project for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2016. As you can tell, I didn’t win NaNo since I didn’t even make it to 20K words. But I couldn’t let this story go to the wayside and never to be seen again.
But let me start over. I had a dream about this story one night. It was the first chapter in the novella. I wrote it out thinking I could make something of it. I originally thought I could make a film, but as I tried to write it out, the story didn’t seem to translate well. Luckily, it just so happened to line up with NaNoWrimo 2016.
I didn’t plan this story out like I did with my most recent NaNoWriMo experience. I decided to just write as much as I could. I started it through Molly’s point of view and only her point of view, but I felt like something was missing. Halfway through November I realized what it was… Kevin needed to be heard. So in the midst of writing Molly’s part, I stopped and wrote out Kevin’s to where I could meet with her storyline again.
I tried out different ways of writing their point of views until I settled with what I have now. Molly is in first person point of view and Kevin is in third person limited omniscient. This, I feel, is what made the story the way it is.
Anyway, in my other blog posts I wrote about Mental Health and this novella was the prime reason behind those posts.
I wrote this story with the mindset that it’d be read by Young Adult audiences. But, the subject would raise red flags with parents who don’t want their children reading about the harsh reality of life. Especially in this day and age where suicide and mental illnesses are starting to be romanticized in the media. I tried my hardest to keep it as real and impactful as I could. I got a lot of people to read my novella to make sure I was doing it right.
I wrote this story for people to relate to and not just for folks who have mental illness, but also for folks who have family members who are dealing with mental illnesses. There’s two sides to every story and sometimes the true narrative isn’t always clear.
Who do you believe? Who do you side with? And that’s where I was going with this story.
I hope seeing that it is in the YA Fiction section won’t deter you (an adult) from reading this novella. I’m pretty sure you’ll find the story intriguing, yet emotional.
I love all the stories I’ve ever written (screenplays and fiction), but this one is one I truly hold close to my heart. I’ve never had such a voice (or rather voices) resonate with me so much than Molly AND Kevin’s.
Please give We Don’t Talk About That. a read when it comes out this October 2019. (I know I said it was going to be September but it’s still close)
**Pre-Order option will be available as soon as I can proof my hard copy.**