Behind the Scenes

If you haven't already heard of Dahlia Adler, you obviously aren't on Twitter enough!  She's one of the most prolific readers I know, and a massive champion of LGBTQ books.  She's also a writer and her book, Behind the Scenes, is out this week.  When she asked for people to help out with her blog tour, I had to say yes because her book so perfectly fits the theme of this blog.

 To celebrate the launch of her book, Dahlia wants a look at what's behind the scenes in other peoples lives.  So, I thought I'd share a little bit of my writing process and show you a bit of my idea file.  When I get an idea for a new story, it tends to start as something really small, so I jot it down on a scrap of paper if I'm not at home, or type it into a new document on the computer if I happen to be nearby.  And sometimes the ideas come out looking like this:

IDEA #2

Caleb was born with a congenital heart defect.  He had his first transplant at the age of three.  He had his second at seven, and his most recent at twelve.  Now he’s 17, and his body is rejecting heart number 3.

As soon as the symptoms begin showing, his parents and doctors rush to put his name back on the donor list.  But Caleb doesn’t want to go through another agonizing surgery and another long, painful recovery.  His body clearly doesn’t want to live – if it did, why would it keep rejecting every heart it was offered - so neither does Caleb.

Unable to understand his decision, Caleb’s parents refuse to listen to him.  His doctor is sympathetic, but because he’s a minor, Caleb’s choice is overridden by his parents and their desperate need to keep him alive.

Caleb decides to live only as long as it takes for the hospital to find him a new heart.  Then he’ll kill himself before the surgery takes place so the heart can go to some other needy patient.  Knowing it could be a matter of weeks or months, Caleb decides to use the time he has left to do something special for each of the people he’s closest to, as a way to say goodbye.

But a new heart becomes available far sooner than Caleb expected, and he hasn’t said all his goodbyes.  Does he take the heart and finish his mission, or does he take his life now?

I found this when I was trawling through my notes and ideas in search of something behind the scenes enough to share here, and was startled by how many great ideas I've scrawled down and never actually written.  I found an entire novel outline in there too, and was amazed I'd never written it because the story sounds good!  I may be rethinking my next project now....

Make sure you add Behind the Scenes to your TBR pile.  It's out now, and you can get it at any of these wonderful retailers.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17869397-behind-the-scenes

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Scenes-Dahlia-Adler/dp/1939392977

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/behind-the-scenes-phoebe-adler/1104516606

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Behind-Scenes-Dahlia-Adler/9781939392978

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781939392978