Evolution

I met one of my idols last Saturday. I won’t say who exactly because she is a very famous writer who has chosen to live a very private life (and no, it’s not Harper Lee-but you’re thinking along the right track).

During our very brief conversation I mentioned how difficult it can be to evolve as a writer and yet continue to turn out the types of books your readers expect.

Her answer: forget them. Just write the book you want to write and forget about anyone and everyone else.

Wow.

I know some people may think that's easy to say once you’re a household name. But maybe that’s the way you become a household name.

It’s no secret that I really struggled when writing Learning to Play Gin, the soon-to-be released sequel to Cheating at Solitaire. I kept trying to recreate Solitaire, to give the reader the same voice, the same tone, the same reading experience.

But I finally reached a point last fall where I realized that Julia was a different person at the start of Gin than she was at the start of Solitaire. I tossed aside everything I thought the book needed to be and returned, as I like to say, to the center of the story.

The risk this takes is that people who loved Solitaire will hate Gin and vice versa. From a marketing standpoint it may be a nightmare, but it’s what the book HAD to be, and after reading it this weekend I felt satisfied that I had indeed found the center of the story.

And that’s all a writer can hope to do.

As I work on the second of what I hope to be several Gallagher Girls stories, this point is even more real to me.

The girls are growing up, getting better at their craft, and the stakes are getting higher. For a few weeks I’m going to turn off my mind, my phone, and maybe even my email and listen to nothing but their voices.

And as much as I want to write a sequel that fans will love I know that doesn’t happen by listening to the fans, but rather by listening to the characters.

My little girls are growing up.

Now I've got to let them.

-Ally

ps...has anyone heard the new Dixie Chicks CD? Talk about evolving as artists. Love them!