These are the people I’m writing The Solitary Tales for.
Some teenager somewhere who feels isolated and alone, regardless of who and where they are.
The guy who wakes up on a beach in Ibiza wondering what happened the night before.
The quiet girl who never says much and wonders what the world is like beyond her small town.
Some 40-something who remembers John Hughes with the same sort of fondness that I do.
Some 40-something. Any 40-something.
Those who like Twilight and The Hunger Games and are looking for something that’s not Twilight and not The Hunger Games.
Someone who totally believes there is no God and wants to debate about it.
Someone who loves Jesus and knows we’re all broken.
A fan of The Smiths or The Cure or New Order or especially Depeche Mode.
A fan of Pretty In Pink.
A fan of Twin Peaks.
A reader who doesn’t like the same old typical sort of storytelling.
I want someone willing to take a chance on a series not because it’s the next big thing but because it’s virtually unknown by a writer who seems all over the board.
I like people who take chances and I want people to take a chance with this series.
This is what I told my publicist today. A lot of people didn’t like how Twilight ended, right? A lot of people voiced their displeasure about the last Hunger Games book. And a whole lot of people echoed their frustration at the end of Lost.
Endings matter, right? But Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins and the creators of Lost all didn’t know their series would become part of pop culture and the fabric of our times.
I went into this series acting as if it would even if I knew it probably wouldn’t. I didn’t want to fail the way some series have (hello wandering storylines of Twin Peaks).
Temptation is out in stores. It’s only book three. It might be my favorite of the four Solitary Tales books. I don’t know. But the most important is book four. Hurt. Coming out January, 2013.
So all of this is a moot point, I guess.
Who I want the audience to be and why I want it read.
All nice thoughts.
A gazillion YA series out there. Right?
You can call The Solitary Tales a lot of things but you can’t call it a copycat or derivative. It’s a shotgun blast of inspirations on the author. But it’s very much me. And I’m proud of it.
Spread the word.
One day, who knows. Maybe we won’t have to.
Right now I know it’s the very best thing I’ve written, and the thing I’m the most proud of. Beyond every other wonderful and blessed project, The Solitary Tales is the most like Travis Thrasher.
God help us all.
I'am that lonely teen, and my dad's the forty something, and were both caught up in tale you weaved about Solitary. My dad says Chris reminds him of himself when he was seventeen, and the music is all the stuff he listened to when he was younger. I love this series at times it feels like it was written for me. That's an incredible thing to find in a book. Thank you for the Solitary Tales
Well said! I am that 40 something who misses John Hughes films and the great 80's music. I wanted to find another series that I got caught up in after Twilight and the Hunger Games. Thank you for the series.
Hi, Skye and Sara. Thanks for your kind comments. I just read a couple of reviews on Goodreads that lambasted SOLITARY. Oh well–at least they won't continue the journey! It's nice to know there are people connecting with this. Hope the series comes to a great end for you when you read HURT! All the best.
Ya I read those reviews ouch, but at least you got eight good reviews for Temptation on Amazon. One of them was me 😉 I loved Temptation!
Thank you for posting a review. The thing about any bestselling novel is there will be many one-star reviews and hate to go with it. So while this series isn't a bestselling one (yet!), I have to take the good with the bad. Can't wait until HURT gets into everybody's hands. 🙂
I love your descriptions of who The Solitary Tales is for! Between my daughter and I, we fit every category except the guy waking up on the beach 😉 I'm a recovering Cure & Depeche Mode addict, and took days to get over the end of the Lost series…. Anyway, we both are loving the books! I like that we can see some hope in Temptation! That's what's missing in other YA books (and the world, in general). I'm excited to see what Chris will do with the wisdom his dad and Iris have given him. I'm also excited to see what my daughter will say, she being the one who wants to argue about God. I like that this is a great, scary, interesting story that also makes you THINK. It's culturally relevant and great for our kids who aren't going to be interested in the typical Christian fiction genre. I can't believe we have to wait so long for Hurt! I'm thankful we discovered you! God Bless
PS Even if this series isn't the next Hunger Games, it may be someone's intro to Christ. What better success story?
Solitary is next in line after I finish To Kill A Mockingbird, a Spring tradition of mine. Can't wait! I am a 40 something that loves John Hughes, New Order, Depewche Mode, and the list continues, so now I'm excited! Ignore the bed reviews. What do they know?They were probably expecting Nicolas Sparks!