BEFORE I LEARNED MY ABC’S…
I have been asked several times by interviewers how I came up with the idea for my January release, The ABC’s of Kissing Boys. A good question, whose answer—in a nutshell—is that I knew I wanted to do a soccer story, but then was struck with this title idea, and racked my brains to find a way to make it all work.
The truth, though, is that the idea was the easy part. The real labor of love was bringing this story to life: finding the right tone, the right characters, the flow.
The book takes place in Minnesota, so it being the land of 10,000 lakes, it seemed natural to open the book on a lakeshore. And I loved the idea of a group of teens playing the kissing game, Dentist. Every morning I got up before sunrise and started pounding away on it. I felt sure if I worked long enough/hard enough, this “great idea” of mine would take shape. Days passed. Weeks. I moved from page to page until I had to take Advil to ease eyestrain and headache.
I started feeling like the living embodiment of that old joke about the writer who boasts that he wrote forty pages that week. Forty first pages.
My critique partner, author Kelly Parra, was infinitely patient with me as the weeks turned into months, reading attempt after attempt, encouraging me, making suggestions, and holding my cold, clammy hand.
Still, the day came when my agent, Nadia Cornier, called to find out why she still hadn’t seen a first chapter. I caved. I told her my eyes had gone blurry, my head blank. The story wasn’t working, I was going to quit.
Now, if any of you know Nadia, you will not be surprised by her reaction. Instead of accepting this news, she basically got in my face and told me to go try again. It was a great idea, she insisted, I was a strong writer, I could do this.
Dutiful client that I am, I wiped the tears and went back to the keyboard. With nothing more to lose, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I would abandon those elements I so wanted to use, and just let the characters take over.
I’d start…with dialogue. Soon, a line came to me: “You’re late.”
I paused to feel my main character’s reaction to this accusation. Because after all those hours of living inside this girl’s body, I knew her.
And there it was—yes. I felt it. I knew what she’d think, what she’d say, and wouldn’t say.
I had a direction. I had—maybe—a story.
From then on, it flowed pretty easily. With some laughs and some unexpected turns, and the general feeling that I had told the right story the right way.
My agent loved it, my editor loved it, and as of this week, it’s on bookshelves.
And for the record? Remember that lakeside setting I just couldn’t get past? Look for it in the opener to my next book, When Bad Flings Happen to Good Girls. And who knows, a rousing game of Dentist may appear in one of my future books, too!
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To learn more about Tina and her books, please visit her website.