Behind the Book: Say Anything

So there you have it. My teen series starring Chris Buckley as the wide-eyed new kid in school who ends up discovering an evil town while also discovering hope. If I could, I’d love to hear each and every reader’s thoughts about this series and its ending. Regardless of what you think—whether you loved it or hated it—I wouldn’t change a thing.

That’s the same thing I’d say about my high school experience.

I went to four different high schools. If you want to know their names, look at the dedication in each Solitary Tales book. At each school I attended I was a different character in a different tale. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but every time I changed schools, that’s exactly what happened. I understand—people can’t help themselves, whether they’re sixteen or sixty. It’s human nature.

When I came up with this idea for “Pretty in Pink meets The Exorcist,” I knew the story I wanted to write. But what I didn’t realize was why I wanted to write it. Now that the series is finished, I can look back and see that what I wrote was my swan song to my high school years, a summing up of my own experiences as a teenager.

I could show all the similarities, but that’s not too terribly interesting. Why, for instance, does Chris have these love interests showing up in each book? Well, that’s just the story that came into my head. But looking at it now, it makes sense, because every time I ended up changing schools, my old friends would suddenly be gone. Whether it was a close relationship that suddenly died or a friend who suddenly disappeared, the end was always the same. Leaving, moving on, sometimes not even getting to say good-bye, sometimes saying good-bye because of a mistake of mine.

There were many times when I felt isolated and abandoned. Hmmmm. What’s a word to describe that feeling? Solitary. Of course, there were no tunnels or great-grandfathers who hissed or demon dogs, right? But sometimes the ordinary craziness of the high school experience seems to be full of things just like that. Things that are out of our control. Things that are stranger than fiction. Things that cannot be explained.

God was very real to me when I was a teen living on top of a mountain in North Carolina. When I moved, a part of that closeness and innocence left. I decided to change personalities to fit in, and in doing so I got a bit lost as well. At least for a while.

To say that I am Chris Buckley or that he is me is too simplistic. Chris is more like the brother I never had. In some ways, yes, we’re very much alike. But after four books with this likable kid, I can honestly say he’s a character that’s come to life. I’d like to hang out with him and talk about music for a while.

What will become of Chris Buckley? Well, I have some ideas. Anybody who knows me knows I have some ideas. So we’ll see. That’s all I’ll say. For now.

That’s the beauty of this white open space. It’s just waiting to be filled. It’s waiting for those words. And the thing I’ve come to love about The Solitary Tales and remembering what it was like to be sixteen is that you can truly say anything in the confines of this space.

Thank you for taking this journey with Chris and me. It’s been quite the ride.