Hi there all you lovely people!
Thank you so seriously much for reading Grey Street, it means a lot to me. The continuous support and comments have made this extremely fun. I love being able to see what you guys are thinking and having conversations about the story with you, so I really appreciate it.
I have been working on Grey Street in some way for almost a year now. The idea of it came into my head sometime in late winter of last year and I became so obsesed with it that I had to write it down. I wrote the majority of it over the spring and summer of this year, wanting to finish it before school started back up and then started posting it after that. It took a while for the full story to come together and I felt like I was constantly changing and tweaking things, although I always knew how it would end. Now that it's finished I'm extremely proud of it.
I've always enjoyed writing but this is the first full story I've ever finished. I feel like I've grown tremendously as a writer through this process and now that's it finished I hope to continue. I know I don't always have proper grammar and I'm constantly finding small mistakes when I read back over things I posted months ago (I edit my own stories so sometimes it's difficult to catch things) but I thank you for putting up with it. I feel like I have good stories in my head but I'm still figuring out how to become a good storyteller, something that I think will get better over time.
I've read a lot of fan fiction over the last year and I started getting tired of reading the same old character for Harry. Of course, I like a good "dark" Harry, but I wanted to approach his character in a different way. I wanted him to be sweet and caring, a little bit timid in the beginning but charmful and funny just like how I imagine the real Harry Styles to be. I wanted him to be something that was truly good for Elle, not something to make her life harder (even though he did do that for a little bit of the story).
I also felt like I was reading a lot of fan fiction where the main girl was extremely insecure, not very ambitious and a little too dramatic. While I think that stories with these characters are great, I think it sometimes becomes too much of a norm. I wanted to create a girl who was strong minded, driven, humorous and a little outspoken. I wanted a strong female role, not a weak one. That's where Elle came in. I still wanted her to have some of those insecurities though because she is human after all, and that's where the doubts with her mom's love came in and the denial of Harry's.
Grey Street's name came from three things. One: Elle's last name. I named this character before I really started thinking about the story. Two: the song Grey Street by Dave Matthew's Band... the lyrics on the about section of this book are from that. You should definitely check out the song if you haven't listened to it yet. (live version's best) Three: Harry's poem, which was a development that I later came up with after writing half the story. I'd say it was similar to an epiphany, I was thinking about it while driving in the car and how I could incorporate his love of poetry into everything and I almost screamed I was so happy with symbolic-ness of it.
I really hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it! It sure has been fun. I'm so so so thankful for those of you who consistently vote and comment. I don't think you realize how happy I get when I see new notifications. So again thank you! I can't say it enough.
I also wanted to let you know that I have a new story in the works. The title of it is going to be "Nowhere in Particular". It isn't related to Grey Street and it will be a whole new story. I'm super exctied about it and can't wait to get started on it. I think I'll be posting it as I write (vs. this one where I wrote it all first) so you'll have to bear with me and expect slower updates, because I am a full time college student and also work. If you guys are interested though, I can post the first part of it?
For now, Grey Street will stand alone with no sequel. I like the idea of you guys being able to decide what the future of Harry and Ellison is. Although, in my head I already know what happens to them. I thought about writing a sequel and even wrote a few things down... but after talking with some people I decided not to focus on that at the moment because I don't want it to ruin this story and have it become boring. I do have an idea for a possible continuation of their story though that isn't exactly a sequel (from a whole new person's POV) that maybe someday I'll write. *UPDATE* I am starting a little mini series called "Harrison Avenue"... it isn't a sequel to Grey Street but little extras. So if you'd like you can click your way to that.
I love you all SO much! Thank you again for reading/commenting/voting. You are all truly lovely people. I'm glad our love of Harry Styles and One Direction could bring us together in someway.
If you feel like "keeping in touch" you can follow my Instagram - find it at grey.hs