I love writing. It’s such a fundamental part of who I am and I feel
incredibly grateful that it’s something I’m able to do both for my own personal
enjoyment as well as for publication. While the things I love about writing is
generally far too long to list, one of the items that ranks near the top is that
every book I write is a different experience. The act of story telling never
gets old for me because it’s never the same.
The characters are different. The setting is different. And I’m different.
That last point can’t be understated. With every book I work on (and
I’m linear enough that I work on one book at a time), I’m older, I’ve had
additional experiences and I’ve had an opportunity to continue on life’s
journey.
I’ve been formally published since 2010 and actively writing since 2002
and with each book I also realize that I never know all I think I do before I begin
writing. For me, it’s virtually impossible to truly imagine a book until I’m
deep into it.
Never has this been more true than the book I have coming out this
week, JUST ONCE. This is the second book in my Brooklyn Brotherhood trilogy for
St. Martin’s Swerve and before I began writing it, I expected the book would be
fun and light-hearted. In the early stages of the writing I was even going to
make the story a pretend relationship story, complete with ensuing antics
between my hero, Landon, and heroine, Daphne.
And then something happened.
I wrote the first few chapters and realized that whatever light-hearted
story I imagined had morphed into a serious, rather heavy story about my
characters’ journey to finding each other. Landon is one of three adopted
brothers and where he comes off as the easy-going, laid back brother, it’s a
front for a deeply serious, deeply scarred man still struggling to overcome the
pain of his childhood.
I agonized over this book. Would I do Landon’s story justice? Is there
still enough fun in the story to keep my readers with me? Did I pull it off? In
the end, the answer to the last question will be in the hands of the reader,
just as it should be. Once the book leaves my hands it belongs to my readers
and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But what I can say is that I am happy with Landon and Daphne. They
didn’t take the journey I expected them to take, but they became the characters
they were ultimately meant to become. And for me, that makes all the
difference. They may have zagged where I expected them to zig, but the journey
to get them there made me grow as a writer. And for me, that’s a happy ever after.
Thanks for joining me today!
XO,
Addison
Despite early ambitions of
being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison
Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She
lives in New York and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can
find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her next release, JUST ONCE, the second
book in her Brooklyn Brotherhood trilogy from St. Martin’s Swerve, is out February
7. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com
1 comment:
good to be happy with the end product
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