Chris Tennant | Thanks

I can’t write alone. I can start. But then I get so close to the words I can’t see them anymore. I find myself compulsively lining up deck chairs – such perfect deck chairs! While the Titanic hurtles toward the unseen iceberg.

Especially with first drafts, it’s a shock to get readers’ perspectives. With new eyes, I realize things I’ve worked on for days don’t advance the story or the characters. But it’s always a gift too. New paths open to deepen the characters, to fold the story back on itself.

Thank you to everyone who’s helped me along the way!

My first and biggest thanks are to my kids Joshua and Rebecca. They first encouraged me to start telling stories again. One of the first was a series about a lemur who spoke in a high squeaky voice and stole oranges from a princess. I remember one long road trip from Grenoble to Provence in the Renault Clio, the first trip with Giuditta and the kids together.  

The kids have always been ruthless critics – when the stories got boring, they told me. As they got older we graduated together to the Rupert David and Miranda series. And a story about a girl and a boy with secret doors in their closets that led down to a big round room with a hundred doors, each door leading to a different story.

As I’ve started writing again, Becca has always been my best editor. She finds the continuity errors, and all the mistakes that I miss. Joshua’s great on story flow, and ruthless on characters.

My wife Giuditta is always my first and best reader. She reads everything, and tells me gently when I’m losing my way. I remember finishing the story of Rachel and Andrew on our road trip through National Parks, before Noah was born. Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Christmas 2018. The pandemic had already started; we just didn’t know it yet.

My friend Anders reminded me of the importance of misunderstandings.

My friend Barbara has always engaged me on the big ideas. She reminded me that the races I chose for the characters in An Orc in the Closet mattered. My brother Doug helped me think through that question too. Barbara was most helpful on the question of violence. Orc in the Closet is an adventure story, so of course it has violence. But in the first drafts, some of the violence was unnecessary. And I missed the chance to have the characters think about the consequences of violence. Because of course they would. The book is much better thanks to my many debates with Barbara about the big questions!

And working through the issue of violence in the book has helped me see the world a bit differently. I watched the Mandalorian with Joshua and Becca. We loved it. But a lot of stormtroopers get casually killed. Some are doubtless evil. But some are just doing a job, feeding their families. What would they do if given a real choice to turn from their path? Is it right to kill them before they’ve been given that choice? 

Janet reminded me that people don’t usually speak in complete sentences. And not to describe actions step by step. Readers intuit!

Michelle and Fiona reminded me gently that close third person means close, not “from outer space.” Jessica pointed out the importance of “this-world” stakes and gave me the idea of the school dance.