Adrianna

The Story Behind This Book

The Writing of Adrianna One day I was talking with my mother, Ginny, about the book I was working on. I read her a few paragraphs and explained the main storyline, and she asked me "How do you come up with all that?" I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head. The truth of the matter is that I don't really know how I do it. For as long as I can remember, ideas have popped into my mind, and with a little concentration I am somehow able to build on them, to flesh out the bare bones of a story as quickly as I can write or type it. Of course, by the time the story is finished, it may not resemble very closely the initial thoughts from which it is developed. There are times when my brain just isn't in the mood to create, but usually, I can turn myself on to writing if I am just a bit patient until my "write mind" kicks in. Although I believe that writing is a process that anyone can be taught to do, I am also convinced that, to some extent, the ability to create a poem, a short story, an essay, or a novel is an innate talent - a gift for which I can claim very little credit. Perhaps that sounds presumptuous or pompous, but it's the only way I can explain - to myself - how my thoughts go from brain to paper (and nowadays, to the computer screen), and how, many times, things seem to be writing themselves. Let me give you a prime example of what I mean. When the initial concept for my first book, Adrianna began to take form, my plan was to write a novel that had plenty of hot, sexy prose and a healthy helping of violence as that seems to be what sells nowadays. When I reached the point in the story where the first attempt to murder the main character was going to occur, it was like someone else was telling my hands what to write. Although this and subsequent attempts on Adrianna's life were, in essence, violent acts, blood and gore just didn't seem to fit the story. Likewise, when the plot developed to the point where Adrianna and Coy, her romantic interest and the other main character in the book, should logically become lovers, the innately pure and virginal aspects of Adrianna's personality and being overrode the idea of injecting lurid sexual acts into the story. Instead, tender scenes occur in which Adrianna and Coy recognize their desires but do not consummate them. And somehow, that is okay. Totally in opposition to my initial thought to write an extremely steamy, sexually explicit novel, the book took on a life of its own. I could have forced the deeper sexual nuances into the text, but it would have seemed out of place. Perhaps the novel would have been an easier "sell" but I would have felt that the true essence of the characters had been destroyed. I guess I could say that Adrianna and Coy, as well as the other characters in the book, became real people to me as I told their stories. Their individual personalities and motivations seemed to be preset in some way. It seemed as if "the tail was wagging the dog." (Please forgive my use of such a trite colloquialism, but it fits!). By the time the novel was about half finished, I knew that it would turn out to be a good read - fun and frivolous at times, deep and mysterious at other times, but not an explicit expose of wild sex and bloody violence. I wrote about three quarters of Adrianna very quickly - in less than a month, and in the next month or so I added a few more chapters. Then, due to the stress and turmoil of divorce and other major changes in my life, I set the book aside. When I returned to it over a year later, I had to reread it before I could finish it. Although I thought I'd have at least another hundred or so pages to write, the story finished itself within a few hours and many less pages than I had anticipated. I went back and changed a few little things, added a thought or action here and there, but basically, the book was finished. Over the next couple of years I edited and reedited the manuscript. Finally, when my mother was in her last few weeks of life, I decided to self-publish Adrianna. I had been thrilled about a year earlier that I had been accepted by a literary agency, but nothing had come of that relationship. Mom had been so excited about her daughter's writing and so hopeful that I would become a published author that I decided not to wait any longer for the miracle of finding a publisher. With the financial backing of a friend, one whom I had come to love as a sister even though we had never met face to face, I chose a publishing house and set about fulfilling my dream and my mother's by presenting Adrianna to the world in paperback and hardcover. Although Mom passed away before the book was ready for release, she knew it was "in the works". Ironically, the book came out on Mom's birthday, just six weeks after her death. At last, I had become a published author, but I soon learned that the promotion of a "print on demand" book is an arduous and expensive task. The publishers had done a wonderful job of producing the novel, but the nature of the self-published book is such that each copy must sell for a price only a hugely popular and well-known author can demand. How could I, a first time author, even hope to break into that market? Those who have read Adrianna tell me that it's an excellent read. One older gentleman, a coworker of mine, asked to read the book although he later admitted he thought it would be a "woman's book." After finishing it, he surprised me by saying that he had been captured and drawn into the story from the first chapter and had found it to be humorous, intriguing, and very engaging. He said something else that totally took me by surprise: "There's a lot of God in your book." God isn't really mentioned much, nor is religion, but he said the essence of the book was what he was talking about. I do consider myself to be a spiritual person although I do not embrace any formal religion or attend any church. Perhaps that's why the underlying aura of the story affected him in the way he described. And maybe, just maybe, that's why Adrianna turned out to be a strong story that harkens to the reader's heart rather than his or her sexuality. Besides, I could never have dedicated a heavily sexual and blatantly violent book to my mother; the purity of her mind and spirit, for which she was loved and appreciated, would have caused her to "turn over in her grave!" I just hope my readers won't be shocked when they get their hands on my future novels!

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