The Story Behind the Story, When Does a Story Stop Belonging to the Writer?
Five years ago, Contingents existed as a messy first draft on my computer. Today, it exists as a real book you can hold in your hands.
That’s a very strange sentence to write! 🙂
This story has grown alongside me for a little over five years. It has survived countless rewrites, deleted chapters, changed characters, plot holes (so, so many plot holes), late-night ideas, and plenty of moments where I wondered if it would ever actually become what I imagined it could be.
And now, somehow, it’s here… Contingents: Part I – What We Become is officially published!
There is something incredibly surreal about knowing that Kate, Axel, Luke, and the world of Unum Terram no longer exist only inside my head or in a document on my laptop. Other people get to meet them now. They get to question them, root for them, get frustrated with them, make theories about them, and maybe even become a little too attached to them… just like I did.
I don’t think I could ever perfectly explain what it feels like to hold something in your hands that once existed only as an idea. I’m incredibly proud of this story, but I’m even more grateful for everything it took to get here. The first draft wasn’t perfect. Neither was the second… Or the third… But, every version brought me a little closer to the story I knew was hiding underneath.
So, here’s to five years of writing, rewriting, learning, doubting, dreaming, and refusing to leave these characters behind. And here’s to finally getting to say: Contingents is a real book.
I can’t wait for you to read it.
– Paige