Chapter Twenty-Two, and the 9/11 Connection

(Image: Chapter 22, Perce is trying to sneak out of Dwendol.)

Welcome back! That goes for me too; I was going to be back online last week but between transitioning back into the groove, getting sick (my mum caught the cold from hell a couple days before I left Colorado and I succumbed to it a few days later), and handling a loss in my family as well as I could from my vantage point, I honestly just forgot!

That's why it's so important to have things planned out in advance. But sometimes we just can't plan far enough ahead, so we do our best. I'm aiming to do better than my best now, though, so wish me luck!

Chapter 22 is up, and Bennie has some pretty big bombshells dropped on her, as if she weren't already having enough trouble already.

This was the part of the book where writing became difficult, but ever so much more important. A lot of what Bennie goes through, the loss of focus and ability to keep things together, the physical pain in her heart, even her initial denial at how serious the situation is, is pulled directly from the way I reacted to 9/11, and the events that ensued shortly thereafter, namely the kidnapping and murder of Danny Pearl. I will probably talk more about him in the coming weeks.

I wasn't much younger than Bennie  when these things happened, and it's interesting, in hindsight, to see how these next few chapters are almost a recreation of what I experienced at 13.

Well, people always say, "write what you know."

Never exclude your personal experiences when you write. That's often your best starting point.