I can’t believe that in two months, the Family by Choice series will publish its last book. I have been working hard to give this chapter and these characters the ending they deserve, while allowing the story to move to a place I know it needs to go.
Each and every book has been a labor of love. Each and every character I introduced came with a specific intent and a real struggle. Looking back, I have a lot of what if’s. I changed direction numerous times and what I started off with isn’t what always ended up on the page.
What I mean, is that the characters went off on their own. They have dictated direction and they have made their own choices.
Even when it frustrated me to no end.
Sometimes I wanted to strangle them.
Sometimes I wanted to hug them.
Sometimes I wanted them to grow up.
Mostly I wanted them to succeed.
Now to the end…
A few spoilers (kind of)
Book 30 is about Brittany and her health. It is a fight for her survival and a day of reckoning for her family.
It is not as much about her as it is about everyone else and their ability to come to terms with reality.
And it’s my love letter to a character I adore.
Creating the character if Barbara Rose is something I don’t think I will ever forget. I can remember the moment she first popped into my mind and the moment I heard her speak for the first time. Her name came from two people I loved in my life and when I changed her name to Brittany, it was out of a need for me to begin to let those people go, just as she had to move on from Barbara.
Through writing her story, I came to terms with a lot in my life. Through it all, through the changes and the evolution of the character, there were things that couldn’t change.
For both of us.
Her HIV status was the one thing she carried through it all.
As much as I try to move on from the losses in my life and the diagnosis which shapes my future, there is a part of me that is stuck.
We all have those undeniable pieces of ourselves. The things we can’t change. The parts of us that effect every single moment of our lives.
Hers was just more obvious.
Barbara Rose represented a part of me that existed before certain events happened in my life.
Brittany represented me after.
As she came to merge her past and her present, so did I.
Unfortunately, her future became out of focus to me.
And then it was crystal clear.
Book 30 will focus on Brittany and Tommy and the other characters who have come to support and love them so fiercely.
I am not trying to make it sound dire. It’s a fitting end to a storyline that has spanned years. It is a celebration of accomplishments and a snapshot of a family full of love and hope.
It is a love letter from me to this family, and to all of you who have stuck with me through it all.
I sincerely thank you for reading my chaos and making sense of my thoughts. It has been my greatest pleasure to bring you this story and I am by no means ready to leave them all behind.
It’s simply time to move on.
Thoughts???
