Trouble School

Author's Note

"You can call me whatever you want, but that won't change me. I just don't care what the world says, I'm gonna make it... So what if I am crazy?"

- Crazy,

By Lost Frequencies and Zonderling

{ { o } }

As I'm very fond of saying: I'm the craziest person I know. I talk to myself, I'm an adult (barely) who still has imaginary friends, I have an inexplicable jacket obsession, and I'll do just about anything for a good cheeseburger and some gummy worms. Also: I mostly watch movies that came out when I was somewhere between negative-twenty and negative-ten. (So 80's and 90's, basically.)

It's kind of difficult to not throw out constant movie references in my writing, since a lot of my characters (Haiden partially excluded) aren't really huge movie buffs. The occasional "dogs barking can't fly without umbrella" I can get away with, since I can just blame Klocke's partner before Haiden, Kraig Garzon. Now there was a guy who understood my movie obsession... He is deeply missed.

In any case, I'm a few chocolates short of a Valentine. A few bulbs short of a Christmas tree. A few acorns short of a nut job. You get the picture. I'm not "all there." But that's okay, I mean, I still have friends. Like, actual friends. Real, physical, people. So it's okay.

But I channeled a lotta crazy into this book, and, honestly, my characters handled it far better than I would have. I mean, if it were me, I would've definitely melted into a puddle of 'please don't kill me' when coming face to face with Melody. (But I created her...? Whatever.) Though, to be fair, I did hardcore channel my whole 'talking to myself' issue in that one part where Eddie's arguing with himself in the bathroom. I actually sort of enjoyed writing that part... Eddie wouldn't talk to me for a while after that, but he got over it eventually. (Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but that's just how my brain works... Assuming it does work most the time...)

Trouble School really didn't make it easy for me. There were a lot of times where I didn't know what to do, since I had to sort of stay within a lot of the parameters I'd originally set within the first book and the beginning of this one. For one thing, I had to make sure I didn't accidentally do something that didn't make sense when connected to the flashbacks in The Messenger. And I was also somewhat restrained with the POV's that I could explore. I had to mostly keep it to the people who were actually there to tell the story. Sure, with Suzanne's help, I could sort of branch out a bit, taking a look at what was going on in Melody's mind. In that case, the issue became getting Suzanne into a situation where she could pick that up.

And then there were the times where I'd pull up the document of the chapter I'd left off on, only to find myself rereading what I had on that chapter over and over again. Or, just staring at that blank screen, glaring at that stupid blinking cursor, silently mocking me. I mean, it felt like it was mocking me, anyway. Those were the times when my characters weren't talking to me.

Which, can't really say I blame 'em, given what I put them through... Still, it was tough.

But I made it.

If, two years ago, someone had told me that I would not only finish one book, but two... I probably would've called them unduly optimistic, but admittedly I still wouldn't've minded the encouragement. My own confidence was seriously lacking back then, granted, I'm still working on that. But like I said:

I made it.

And the story's not over yet.

"Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever. Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time... That is up to you."

- The Happy Mask Salesman,

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask