The idea for the novel came to me in a dream one night. I was surprised to be able to get into a deep enough sleep to dream. We (my wife and I) were new parents and our newborn was only a couple months old. What that meant was that we barely slept! So, it was kind of a miracle for me to even have such a vivid and amazing dream (or nightmare, I couldn’t really decide). When I woke from it, I tried going back to sleep, but it was no use. I couldn’t get the dream to continue. In the morning, I told my wife all about the dream and we decided that it made a good book idea. I was desperate to find out what happens in the end, but since I couldn’t get the dream to continue, I decided that I’d just have to write the rest of it myself. And of course, just adding an ending didn’t help me end up with a novel. I had to think about all the character’s backstory, and the premise of the entire book series. Last but not least add in some drama.
I had a lot of fun creating the backstory of all the characters, especially when creating some quirks that make the characters unique. I think there is always a little bit of myself in every character of my book. The way that Declan is constantly talking to himself and being so lost in a flashback that people have to constantly snap him out of it is definitely one of my quirks. And as it so happens, I think my first born also has that quirk. The faith and trust the Keira places on God, is probably something that I work very hard towards attaining. The way that Aunt Jenny strict with Declan, and all the while Uncle Roy’s unconditional love are the balance that I’m always trying to work into my parenting style. The way that Caleb just wants to break free from everything he was raised to know when he goes off to college, was definitely something that I had experienced in my teen years (I mean, who hasn’t’).
Writing some of the more dramatic scenes in the book was probably thing that I had the most fun doing. My favorite part in the book (without giving too much away as a spoiler) is the scene where Declan comes to a realization about his own state of mind and what he can really do. That feeling of being free from all the baggage that he had been carrying for 10 years, made me leap a little bit as I was writing it. I’m sure that there is always something about yourself that you are self conscious of or you don’t like (whether it is something that has happened in your past or something about yourself physically). And sometimes, you can get obsessed about it so much that it consumes you. But learning to like yourself for who you are and how you got there is probably one of the most freeing experiences of your life.