Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight, a weekly feature shining the light on Indie and Debut authors. This week Im excited to introduce readers to:
BRETT SILLS
~Author of My Sweet Saga~
Book Personality
by Brett Sills - 2012
I think the most common question I'm asked about my book is, “So, how much of this book is you?”
It’s always said with a slight tilt of the head, and an even slighter squint that suggests I’d been hiding some darker, devious side that they never could have imagined based on my normal, somewhat harmless demeanor.
And I though I've been asked this numerous times, I never know how to answer it. Because though the plot of My Sweet Saga is purely fictional (though inspired by true events), it is emotionally biographical in a way that suggests I’m looking at my reflection in a severely cracked mirror. The essence of me is all there, but it’s distorted to the point where it is barely recognizable. To me, my book is a fairy tale, though admittedly, an odd one. And though I've never been engaged to a woman I don’t love, I've never been arrested, and have never run through the streets of Stockholm, Sweden naked, the book is clearly all me since, well, it was completely my imagination.
The beauty of writing is that it allows us to safely live lives we are too scared to face, are too outlandish to concept, or in the case of fantasy novels, don't have the physical ability to experience. But writing gives us the opportunity to live vicariously through our characters in a contained environment, and in a strange way, allows both us and the reader to engage in a shared experience that feels real despite its absurdity. And though the character in My Sweet Saga that most resembles me is the protagonist, all the characters obviously share a part of me because I’m the one that created them. In each of the characters exists hopes, fears, bravery, and faults that I either have, or wish I had, and writing these emotions into a coherent story creates a kind of catharsis, as it allowed me to have an experience that I wish I could have… even if it involves getting beat up within an inch of my life.
So, while I would never suggest a certain character in the book is one hundred percent me, the entire book is most certainly me…no matter how disturbing that might be to the reader…or even myself.
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Thanks for stopping by Brett! Its always fun to learn about authors thoughts behind their books and characters. Best of luck to you and the Sweet Saga books!
GIVEAWAY
Today thanks to Brett, I have one eBook copy of your choice to giveaway to a TBR reader. To enter just leave a comment. Winner will drawn March 31, 2012.
At nearly 30 years old, Brandon is barely able to make it through life, much less enjoy it. He is weeks away from what should be one of the happiest days of his life, his wedding day to his fiancée, Clarissa, but his attention is distracted when his estranged, erratic and oddly eccentric father suddenly reappears with a bizarre demand: to accompany him to Stockholm, Sweden, where they will meet a man who he claims will change their lives.
Desperate for even a brief escape from his reality, Brandon reluctantly goes with his father, ready for a disaster. But his life changes completely the moment his eyes meet the mysterious Swedish man's daughter, Saga. On a cobblestone street in the middle of Stockholm, Brandon reawakens to life, though struggles to navigate the messy love triangle with Saga and his fiancée, which includes multiple arrests, hospital stays, terrorist bombs, acts of heroism and foolishness, family secrets and even a bit of public nudity.
thanks for the chance to read this novel ;)
ReplyDeletekarenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
I enjoyed your post. Sounds like an interesting book.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Right. How could the characters you create not hold even a little piece of you. Of course they do. And I really liked how you said that they even reflect your faults or give you the opportunity to experience things that you might not ever get to do yourself, or things that you don't really want to have done to you.
ReplyDeleteAmazing guest post. Reading about character development is one of my favorite things. Thanks for sharing.
I think that every author puts a bit of themselves in their story. It may not be an exact character or a plot line, but it's their work so it seems natural they would connect their lives with the story.
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