The seed is planted.
It doesn’t feel like 10 years, but here we are. It’s 2022, and back in 2012 I took an “Uncanny Literature” class in my final year at college. We studied The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman, and a bunch of, well, uncanny literature. I fell in love.
The short story and research paper
For the final project for Uncanny Literature, we could write a research paper on an uncanny story, or for the “more creative among us,” we could write our own uncanny story and write a research paper around that and the materials we drew from in the class. At the time, I didn’t consider myself the “more creative among us.” I was a Literature major, not a Writing major, because while I loved writing, I hadn’t yet admitted to myself that I wanted to be a writer. That was too scary, too big. (Sshh, but sometimes it still is.)
But I had this idea. Of a girl who literally falls apart. And so I wrote. What needed to be, I think 10 pages, ended up being like 20. My amazing professor still read it all.
The persistent friend
Some of my friends read it too. Friends in the class of course, but also my friend Chrissy who loves those type of stories.
She read the short story, and rather than seeing “The End” as “The End,” she kept telling me I need to “finish the story.” Didn’t matter how many times I told her the story was finished. She didn’t believe me. And eventually, probably a couple years later, I didn’t believe me either. She got me thinking “What if…?”
And the circus finally comes into the picture.
I played with a number of ideas that didn’t pan out. Until I landed on being certain she’d find the circus. This girl whose body parts detach, she was just one chance encounter away from going there to find a place to belong. I didn’t know where the story was heading. I knew where it began and some idea of where it ended, but not how it would all get there.
Life happens.
And for years I’m learning the craft of writing. What works for others, what works for me. Markerboards and planners and all sorts of things to keep moving. I deal with anxiety attacks and difficult job situations and I move slowly, but I don’t stop, or not for long. Julia’s story keeps calling me back. (For awhile, a psychopathic murderer demands a different story be told, and that was a fun jump into something different.)
A different narrator starts telling the tale from a different point in the story. (I’d fallen in love with reading dual point of view stories, so that tracks.) But I can’t tell where this guy fits in (and to be fair, he can’t figure it out either). I don’t like formulaic tales. I like twisty tales. And I’m still learning how to pull those off, but I love every second.
And finally, it all comes together.
It’s been a long journey. It took me awhile with all the life things. It took my characters awhile – one was going through literal torture while the others chilled by a bonfire for quite a long while as I went about my life. But we finally find our way through the story to the other side.
Some of my friends have been waiting 10 years for the news. Some of my friends are probably just hearing about it. Julia and Max and the circus folks, they’re ready to invite you into their tale of magic and prophecy and secrets and loyalties.
What’s next:
I’m querying literary agents right now to see if any interest bites. I’m also open to self publishing. I did that with my little murder book, and I’d be excited to do it again. I’m sorting out business license stuff because I probably should get set up more properly to be ready to scale.
I’m having some beta readers check out my draft to tell me what pieces of the story excite them and what pieces of the story have something missing that I can ramp up a bit. If you wanna be a beta reader to tell me how to make it better, reach out and I’ll send it your way!
I’m working on ideas for a sequel, not sure what will come of it, and mostly I’m hoping it’s not 10 years in the making. I’m getting better. I’m willing to write slow if the story needs it, but I’m also excited to push things out. Thanks for jumping in for the ride, at whatever point you’ve jumped on.
