Addison Fox: Zigging and Zagging

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