I learned something new yesterday. I’ve never heard about Reaction videos on YouTube before. (Thanks, Joel!) My first reaction was to be dumbfounded people spend time watching how others react to their favorite movies or songs. Don’t they just want to watch the video or listen to the song themselves? But then I thought of these videos in light of finishing a novel.
When a novel requires so much time in the shoes of fictional people, learning their mannerisms, foibles, mistakes, fears, embarrassments, quirks, and glories, eventually you grow to love most of these people in the same way you grow to love your imperfect family members. We see all the faults of those in our homes or close circle but, with grace, learn to overlook them. When developing characters, a writer grows empathy for even the challenging folks because we know them so intimately.
As I worked on Hotel Oscar Mike Echo, I admit to falling in love with everyone in the book. Even the bullies became folks I had empathy for because I knew their home lives and the circumstances that fueled their anger and mean-spirits. Even if the reader never learns those details, I know them.
So now that the writing process is over, which in the case of this book took six months for the first draft and six months for a rewrite, these characters aren’t a part of my daily life anymore. The editorial process involved several back and forths with editors over the better part of a year, during which I had the opportunity to once again immerse myself in the characters’ world. And then one day I hit “send” on a finished novel. We watched the book cover come to life with typesetting and that fabulous moment when an artist envisions your story and characters and renders them with ink. And off it went to the printer, leaving me to await its arrival and the moment when readers will step into the pages where I lived for so long.
Today, knowing my time spent with them is over, the finality of it all feels sad. I’m missing them. The story elicited emotion and heartache for me as my empathy grew for Sierra and the others. Truly I wish I could step onto the page of this emotional story and help heal all the wounds present in their lives. I would enjoy just one more bike ride with Mr. Goodwin through the streets of Richmond with Sierra by his side, or another afternoon in Mrs. G’s kitchen planning yummy meals for a crowd, or one more moment watching Sierra creatively making a meal out of her nearly empty pantry with humor and fun as she pretends to be hosting a cooking show. I would speak the kind of encouraging words to her that she hears from the Goodwins.
But we are done with each other…
…until I hear from others meeting these characters for the first time. A friend wrote recently while reading one of my author’s copies to tell me she loved how Sierra pretends to have a cooking show in her empty kitchen to ward off her fear of being left alone for too long by her mom. Instantly, I slipped into the memory of that scene and empathized with little Sierra trying to set a table for herself using dirty dish towels as placemats to “feel fancy.”
Maybe it’s a little like life when we love people in our circle and one day they are gone—either from death, relocation, or estrangement. We remember them fondly and, in some cases, long for just one more dinner, one more conversation, one more moment together.
The friend who shared about reaction videos spoke about them in light of reliving a favorite movie through the eyes of someone else. You can only have one first encounter with a book, movie, or song. But watching someone have their own first encounter in some way triggers us to remember how we felt during that first introduction. I’m sure brain science has things to say about reaction videos.
All that to say, if you read Sierra’s story—and I hope you will—please let me know your thoughts. I’ll be reliving my first introduction to them through your words. In the meantime, you can pre-order and learn more about the book here. The official release date is June 6.