As I may have mentioned before on one blog or another, I decided to write a young adult novel after hearing the voice of the protagonist talking to me while in the shower.
It was one of those moments where I could barely wait to finish washing up, so I could run and find a writing implement and paper, just to get the words down.
Portia Maddox came to me unbidden, almost inflicting her story on me. And when I realized she was an albino who for various reasons couldn’t fit in anywhere, I knew I’d found a unique character. One I’d never read about before.
The odd thing about switching gears from writing a mystery to a young adult novel was that I had very little contemporary reading experience to draw from. I simply created the character and imagined what life might be like for her, if given a chance to join the school elite by helping one of their own with a problem.
The test for me was whether I could interest my writers group (primarily made up of crime writers) in the story. Even the group itself had doubts about their ability/desire to evaluate a story in that genre.
However, when they read the story, they seemed to enjoy it and made many helpful comments and suggestions. And when I sent it to my editor and copyeditor, both of them made encouraging remarks about the book.
At the time I wrote INVISIBLE ME, I imagined it would be a one-off. I hadn’t anticipated writing a sequel.
However, as time has passed, I can easily see how I accidentally created a story arc that could be further articulated via a series of books.
But the biggest surprise was to come. Of all things, I never expected the book to be chosen as solo Medalist Winner in the young adult category of the 2015 New Apple Book Awards.
Now, if I could just get Amazon US to accept a review of this book, I might actually be able to sell a copy or two! Wouldn’t that be nice? 🙂
On that note, I’d like to point out that you can find this book on GoodReads! I’ve included an excerpt from the novel. Check it out! 🙂
