I’m not sure why it took me so long to write a book focused on the character that started it all. The opening line of Nothing Matters introduces us to Jack.
“I’m a Cardiologist, not an internist,” Dr. Jack Stephens complained into the phone as he was called to the E.R. The handsome doctor had been working for 24 hours straight and was exhausted. He needed sleep and food, and not another case.
I think back to that sentence a lot. It wasn’t written the best. Handsome isn’t a great descriptor. I teach my students to do better than that when describing characters, yet to me, Jack is indescribable. (I get how that isn’t okay when writing a novel).
What I mean, is that Jack is the beginning. He is what everyone else came from. Tommy shows up to support Jack. Julie is introduced connected to Jack. Stephanie is introduced through the eyes of Jack. Ron comes from Jack. Jenny comes from Jack. Everything in this series stems in one way or another from the introduction of Jack Stephens.
He has saved almost everyone in the story. Whether literally, by operating on them, or metaphorically by stepping in to be who they needed.
He would say that he did what he needed to in order to survive. He would tell us that if he didn’t move in with Tommy and Julie, he wouldn’t have made it through his mother’s death and his father leaving. He would tell us that helping Stephanie gave him a purpose and a chance to realize the life he always wanted.
He would tell us that he is selfish- he always has to be the one in charge. He hates not being in control.
The two worst moments in his life were his mother dying and Stephanie and Tess being almost frozen to death (book 7).
Moments he felt like he couldn’t breathe- trying to help his daughter with her health and emotional struggles. Watching his wife deal so eloquently with her MS.
His fears at having a daughter who is as head strong and opinionated as he is. His need to protect himself from hurt and in doing so making things worse.
Jack is the series. Tommy and Brittany are a powerhouse. Bill and Julie are the hope and the strength. Stephanie is the reason, but Jack is the story.
Everything begins and ends with him.
So what happens when he is the target?
I waited a long time to write a book where Jack was in trouble. I always needed him to be the helper. To be the one everyone relied on. To be the strength, even if he didn’t handle it the best way possible.
I know a lot of ‘Jacks’. In some ways, I am Jack. If I can’t be the helper, I don’t know how to handle things. Healthy? Not really. But it is what it is.
In Nothing Matters, Jack was a victim. He was again at points in the series, but never like this. Never from someone who attacked him from the place he felt safest.
Never when he didn’t see it coming.
Book 12 will bring a new perspective and a serious change for all of the characters. It isn’t a “Family by Choice” versus “The Next Generation” book. It isn’t a Tommy and Jack versus the world situation. It isn’t anything we’ve encountered before.
That isn’t to say Jack is more important than anyone else. It doesn’t lessen anyone else’s connection or purpose. It’s simply a profound moment when the person you look to as the rock, crumbles.
I am very proud of this next installment and I hope you will take this journey with me. After 13 years of writing this family, it’s a shock.
It’s going to challenge everyone and bring out issues nobody saw coming.
It’s going to forever alter this family by choice.
Coming to you on June 24, I present…
