First of all, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read this story. You guys are honestly so inspirational and your support means the world to me. I wrote this story in just over a month, but that single month has been amazing, so thank you for sharing that experience with me.
Now, I thought I’d answer few frequently asked questions concerning the book and any upcoming works. If you have any more questions, feel free to comment below and I’ll answer them as soon as I can.
Q. How old are Noah and Leigh?
A. Noah is in his first year of university, so he’s eighteen-nineteenish. Leigh is in her last year of high school, so she’s seventeen-eighteenish. So, there’s about a year between them, if not a little less or a little more.
Q. Why was Noah at the library to begin with?
A. Because he’s a university student and university students study too. Plus, he loves to read so why not go to the library and pick up a free book?
Q. Don’t you think it’s kind of creepy that Noah stalked Leigh?
A. Okay, first of all, the word ‘stalk’ has a lot of negative connotations. Stalkers intentionally follow and obsess over their victims. Noah never had any intentions to do that to Leigh. So, I’d appreciate it if people stopped associating my character with that kind of label. Noah goes to the library to study and by coincidence, Leigh happens to go there too. He just notices her one day, realises she’s a regular at the library too and picks up on little things about her because she’s just always there when he is. Noah doesn’t continue to go to the library specifically to watch Leigh. I understand that the extended summary seemed slightly misleading, so I have changed it a little to avoid misrepresentations of my protagonists.
Q. Will there be a sequel?
A. I have decided that yes, there will be one! It will follow Noah and Leigh’s relationship after they meet at The Queue. It will be called The Mixtape and I will write it so that people who haven’t read Noah and Leigh can still read it. It will be another short story, but with (hopefully) longer chapters. Here is the summary:
❝A mixtape of songs that describe the relationship between a boy named Noah and a girl named Leigh.❞
The cover is on the side. I’ll post the information about it tomorrow, but I’m not sure when it will officially start. Each chapter will have a song and I will write the chapter based on that song, so, if you have any song recommendations, feel free to comment them below.
Q. Will there be a one-shot competition?
A. Wasn’t really planning on it, but if you guys are interested, then I can organise one! Just comment below if you’d like a competition.
Q. How will dedications work?
A. They’ll go to the people who have given some of my favourite comments. Dedications will be given out tomorrow, so I apologise in advance if I spam your newsfeeds.
Q. Do you recommend every book you mentioned?
A. Most of the books mentioned in Noah and Leigh are ones that I’ve read, others are top-priorities with great ratings and reviews on goodreads. I’d recommend all of them to the general public. Remember, my suggestions aren’t based solely on the one individual, so I don’t expect all of you to like every single one of them. However, if you start saying ‘ew’ or ‘what were you thinking’, iI won't appreciate it. Feel free to dislike them, but please don’t express your displeasure. I want this book to create positivity and promote people to read, so if you post negative comments concerning the recommendations, then you’re discouraging readers and that’s not okay.
Q. How do you pronounce ‘Leigh’?
A. Lee. Not Lay. I don't know why, but I've always pronounced this name Lee, so I have no idea where Lay came from. Anyways, Noah and Leigh’s ship name is not ‘Neigh’ as in, the sound a horse makes.
Q. Why does it take Leigh so long to go to the bathroom (10 mins)?
A. It doesn't necessarily mean Leigh pees for ten minutes. Remember, the bathroom is in a separate building, so she has to walk from the back of the library, to the bathroom and back. She takes her time.
Q. Do you have a cast selected for Noah and Leigh?
A. I've decided not to include one for any of my stories on this account. Mostly because with published books, it doesn't come with a list of celebrities so you know what each character looks like. I want my readers to use their imaginations.
This section of the story is dedicated to @94Wolf who suggested I list all the books recommended in this story. Thanks so much for the brilliant idea! So, here is a list of all the books, with their authors and genres. Stories with an asterisk (*) are ones that haven’t been included in this story, but are ones worth mentioning. If it says ‘and other works’ it means they’re awesome authors, so it’s worth checking out their other works too. Note that some of these stories I haven’t read, but they all have good ratings and reviews. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these books, click the external link. It will direct you to the site and you can buy these books with international free shipping!
One of the purposes of this story was to encourage people to read more and share new stories. So, the list composed below is going to have book recommendations from all genres to suit everyone’s tastes. Some of the genres overlap, so if you see a story that doesn’t seem like it fits in its genre, I probably haven’t read it and selected its category based on the summary. Remember, if you have read any of these books and did not like them, please don’t hate on them. Anyone that wants to add to the list, please feel free to comment and I’ll include it with a (recommended by @______). When commenting, please don’t give any spoilers.
c o n t e m p o r a r y / r o m a n c e
1. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (and other works*)
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green (and other works*)
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky
5. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
7. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (and other works*)
8. Every Day by David Levithan (and other works*)
9. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
10. Winger by Andrew Smith
11. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (and other works*)
12. Just One Day by Gayle Foreman (and other works*)
13. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
14. The Beginning of Everything by Robin Schneider
15. The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer
16. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen* (and other works*)
17. Ask the Passengers by A.S. King* (and other works*)
18. This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith* (and other works*)
19. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler*
20. It’s Kind of a Funny Story Ned Vizzini*
21. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh*
22. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Pekins* (and other works*)
23. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry* (and other works*)
24. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick* (and other works*)
25. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles* (and other works*)
26. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson*
27. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han* (and other works*)
28. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver*
29. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West* (and other works*)
30. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover*
31. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler*
32. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson* (and other works*)
33. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira*
34. Amy & Matthew by Cammie McGovern*
35. Everything Leads To You by Nina Lacour*
36. The Invention of Hugo Cabet by Brian Selznick*
37. Burn for Burn series by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian*
38. Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout*
39. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins*
40. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart*
41. Any and Matthew by Cammie McGovern
42. This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith*
f a n t a s y / s c i – f i
1. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner*
2. Elemental Series by Brigid Kemmerer*
3. Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer*
4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas*
5. A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin*
6. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater*
7. Across the Universe by Beth Revis*
8. Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson*
9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor*
10. The Archived series by Victoria Schwab*
11. Sweet Evil series by Wendy Higgins*
12. The Syrena Legacy series by Anna Banks*
13. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling*
14. Pivot Point duology by Kasie West*
d y s t o p i a n
1. Delirium series by Lauren Oliver*
2. The Maze Runner series by James Dashner*
3. Legend series by Marie Lu*
4. Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi*
5. Undeadly series by Michele Vail*
6. Under the Never Sky series by Veronica Rossi*
7. Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare*
8. Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare*
9. The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken*
10. Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld*
11. The Selection series by Kiera Cass*
12. Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout*
13. The Program by Suzanne Young*
14. Divergent series by Veronica Roth*
15. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins*
v a m p i r e / w e r e w o l f / a n g e l s / g h o s t s / p a r a n o r m a l
1. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead*
2. Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead*
3. Fallen series by Lauren Kate*
4. Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick*
5. Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand*
6. Angelfall series by Susan Ee*
7. Mediator series by Meg Cabot*
8. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows*
9. Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa*
10. Paranormalcy series by Kiersten White*
11. Mara Dyer series by Michelle Hodkin*