Looking For Love (Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful Series Book 2)
Page 35
In Micah’s case, Dill sent me THIS.
And yes, with ebooks, I am constantly tempted to pepper them with all sorts of in-chapter links to the visual aids I use while writing. So far, I’ve restrained myself—if you don’t count this bit right here—but I’m making no promises that my self-restraint will last forever. (Okay, just kidding. I’ll never do that. I’m too much of a purist when it comes to the reading experience… the effect of growing up in the pre-ebook era, I’m sure.)
Looking For Love Fun Fact #5
For those of you who’ve read the afterword in Ready for Love, you already know that I tend to pack my stories chockfull of tributes to people, places, things, times, and events from real life. There are far more than just ten of those tributes in this book, of course, but I’m having mercy on you and only sharing a few of them here in this ADHD-esque, rambling, just-for-fun, I-can’t-believe-you’re-still-reading afterword. (Seriously, you’re still reading? *grin* ILU.)
Anyway, here’s the story behind one of those tributes. I had a couple of sick days while I was writing Zach and Micah’s story, and since I was feeling too poorly to write, I curled up on the couch with some hot tea, the fluffy blue blanket my sister-in-law knit for my son back when he was born, and a healthy dose of self-pity flavored with misery. (We were out of honey and lemon.)
Now, what I normally would have done with all this unexpected downtime was get to work on my bloated TBR list (…which is about five times more bloated than it was a few weeks ago, thanks to Courtney Bassett a.k.a. That Evil Temptress… just sayin’.)
But alas, I felt like shit.
Even flipping Kindle pages was too much.
…but luckily, that’s why Netflix was invented, right? I binge-watched the first two seasons of Cleverman instead of catching up on my reading. (“Binge” is pretty much my default setting when it comes to all forms of entertainment, and even though I’d never heard of the show, I got sucked down a “Netflix recommends based on your viewing history” rabbit hole.)
Those sick days were one of the many, many reasons that this book took so much longer to finish than I’d originally scheduled, and also—when I finally recovered from my bout with woe-is-me and got around to writing Chapter 16—my inspiration when I needed a name for the art gallery owner. Yep, that’s right. I borrowed Koen West’s name from Cleverman, in tribute. (Of course, my book-Koen doesn’t have any of the powers that the one in the show does… as far as I know.)
Looking For Love Fun Fact #6
While I was outlining this book, I tossed a question at my ARC team: anything in particular you want to read about? I made no promises, but thought it would be fun to work some of their ideas in if I could. (The process of writing is so much more fun when it’s interactive!) Anyway, one of the results? Chapter 17, blindfold sex. (Thanks, Nick Ryan!)
Looking For Love Fun Fact #7
Chapter 24… you all got that Say Anything reference, right? It’s a classic. *Grin*
#JustDatedMyself
#ButSeriously
#NothingSaysLoveLikeJohnCusackInATrenchcoat
Looking For Love Fun Fact #8
Some of my favorite things in all the books I’ve written were little surprises that I didn’t plan during the outlining phase, but that showed up out of the blue while writing and ended up adding depth and meaning, color and flare. These are the sorts of details that fly out of my fingers and onto the screen without asking; or that get included for serendipitous but unintentional reasons and then blossom into so much more; or that are arrived at after a winding trail of factoids and coincidence, and end up leading to what turns out to be the heart of the story.
(The flowers and Disney princesses that I had no idea would be a part of Someday, or what happened once I discovered that Parker liked to bake in Restitution…)
In Looking For Love, Micah’s more-than-green rock was one of those things (see the cover), and so was Zach’s sparrow tattoo. Honestly, I didn’t even know Zach had a tattoo at first. And then, once I realized he did—had to, for a certain conversation to work—I was just as surprised as he was to find out how he got it. Yes, I know, I know, I was the one who came up with it. But just go with me here, because writing is weird. I totally get why ancient peoples believed in a “muse” that was somehow separate, because certain story details just… come out. Unbidden. Unasked for. Unexpected. (Huh. Now I want to write a series with those titles. #Squirrel)
Okay so, here’s the thing though, back when I was writing Ready for Love, I had this little bit of literary brilliance in place right up until the end:
Zach arched a brow, looking for all the world like he was humoring him. “I know you’re afraid that committing to something will lock you in—”
“xx,” Gabe said, fake-coughing into his hand.
“—but have you ever thought about it in reverse?” Zach finished, conveniently ignoring the reference to his ass art in his quest to delve deeper into Gabe’s head and fix whatever was fucked.
Did you catch that? Yeah, “xx” isn’t nearly as romantic as a mating-for-life sparrow, right? I mean, I guess it could be? If you… uh. Hm… now I kind of want to think up some sort of meaning behind the “xx” that would make it romantic. But no. That’s a rabbit hole I will not let myself fall into right now. *grin* The point is, “xx” is what I always use for a placeholder for all the specific details that I have yet to figure out while I write. And in Ready For Love, it was still there, just days before I was supposed to send the book out to my amazing ARC team.
What to do?
What was Zach’s spirit animal?
Seriously, I had no idea. I Googled. I stared off into space. I contemplated Zach’s characterization whilst eating excessive amounts of unneeded calories. And still… it eluded me. (No, I’m not British, but yes, certain people who may or may not be included way back in the “thank you” section have rubbed off on me… to the point that things like “whilst” and “you cheeky monkey” are now part of my everyday mental vocabulary.)
Anyway, back to Zach, and serendipity, and late night, loopy conversations with Cait Forester (who is not the one to blame for things like “whilst.”) On this particular night, I sent Cait a desperate cry for help—“OMG WHAT IS ZACH’S TATTOO???”—and, because she is wonderful in every way, instead of leaving me hanging or telling me to go sort out my own story because she had plenty on her own plate, thank you very much, or reminding me that it was, in fact, the middle of the night for her, she dumped a bunch of ideas on me:
‘CHEEK’ tatted on his ass cheek?
Or maybe a bee?
A black cat?
Sparrow? Dagger… rose…rope…anchor…ship…compass…?
Clearly, Cait should be nominated for sainthood. I closed my eyes and stabbed a finger blindly at the screen and… hahaha no. Not really. (Can you imagine? What would I have done if it landed on CHEEK? That would have ended up being a whole different angle to the story…) Anyway, I was like… aw. Sparrow! That would be funny. It’s so little and nondescript, and not even remotely badass. Perfect! I’ll pick that, and figure out the rest later.
And then?
Later came. I started writing Zach and Micah’s story, and had to figure out what the heck I was going to do with a sparrow tattoo.
Something?
Nothing?
Ignore it?
Give it meaning?
Was it just a drunken mistake, or was it (dun dun dun!)… something more?
A little bit of Google-fu later and I had the glimmer of an idea (thanks, sparrows, for mating for life). A few more weeks of letting the idea simmer and stew in my mind, and Micah became “little sparrow.” Yes, I adore TOEs (terms of endearment) and overuse them both in real life and my writing life. Writing a character without a TOE would be like… like… like…
Nope, I can’t even imagine it.
But to hurry up and get to the end of this long, winding road that leads to story details which surprise and delight me: Tanja Ongkieho
ng-Maas volunteered her name for a side character, and when she let me know that “Tanja” was the Dutch spelling… voila! Micah’s family became Dutch, too, and he became musje. (Thank you again, Tanja, for all your help with the Dutch words!) And I—much like Zach—decided that some things are just meant to be. That even though this is a contemporary story set in the real world where things like fate and destiny aren’t tangible forces… that maybe this mysterious drunken-ass-tattooing-man who’d claimed to know what Zach’s spirit animal was actually did know something.
That even things which might seem like a mistake at first, might turn out not to be a mistake at all.
I like the idea of trusting in that, and in the good of the world, and in discovering—or maybe making—meaning out of all the things life hands us.
Looking For Love Fun Fact #9
More rule breaking, more names. *grin* I use visual aids all the time while I write, for just about everything. In the case of Micah’s Pippin, I watched a series of seeing-eye-dog videos while deciding how to portray Micah and Pipp’s relationship in the book. And the real life dog in those videos?
Yep, her name was Pippin.
I know, I know. My own writing rule means that I shouldn’t have named the second dog something that started with a P, too, but I just couldn’t help myself. Tributes, yo. Zach and Micah’s Precious is named after real-life Precious, the princess-I-mean-pet of someone I’ve been totally blessed to have on my writing support team. Kitti Crawford has helped me do the final proofing for every single Stella Starling book (plus a few others), and each one of them is better because of both her freakish attention to detail and her Amazing Continuity Superpower. (Of course, I suspect that Precious may be the one really calling the shots in the Crawford household… *wink*)
Looking For Love Fun Fact #10
I really, really wanted to get a print of this for the wall in front of my desk while I was writing. Unfortunately, the photographer never responded to my email, but I’ll link you here because this picture makes me happy: Just Blue
Thank you, for those of you who’ve made it this far, for sticking with me through these long-winded, rambling words, spilled onto the page late at night as I wrap up this story for publication and try to come to terms with letting go of this lovely set of boys. Sending them off into the world on their own is a joy and a terror. (And what’s with all the “me” and “I” in this afterword, you ask? If you’ve read our Stella Starling bio, you know that this pen name started as a collaboration between two of us—me and Peyton Andrews—and if you’ve also read the afterword in Ready For Love, you may also know that the pen name was originally going to be put to rest once we finished The Beloved Series. But then Gabe happened…*grin*)
At the moment, Peyton is continuing to work on some solo projects of her own, and I’m committed to finishing the Semper Fi series for Stella. (Next, with Brody’s book, and finally with a standalone for Blair… because I sort of fell in love with him while writing Gabe and Jake’s story.) But no matter which name either of us writes under, or how you’ve found our books, please have no doubt what a huge part of our world you are, lovely reader. It’s such a joy to share our boys with you… and I’ll just come out and say it: I do think stories matter.
Sharing stories connects us, helps us walk in each other’s shoes, inspires empathy… and hope… and, in the end, maybe lets us love each other a little better, too. (Okay, stepping down off my soapbox now.) Thank you for reading. I truly hope you enjoyed your time with Zach and Micah, and the few hours you’ve spent in the Stella Starling world where love always wins.
You truly are the best part of the story.
*Hugs*
Stella (Aubrey Cullens)
Also by Stella Starling
A Standalone Holiday Romance
All I Want (Elliott and Ash)
At Last, The Beloved Series
Be True (Trevor and Logan)
Be Mine (Kelly and Jase)
Be Loved (Brandon and Shane)
Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful Series
Ready For Love (Gabe and Jake)
Looking For Love (Zach and Micah)
Coming Soon
Fighting For Love (Brody and Will)
Mile High (Blair and David)
About the Author
Stella Starling is the storytelling team of two M/M contemporary romance authors who have far too many stories to tell on their own, so decided it would be fun to tell a few of them together.
The authors bring their love for writing, romance, and sweet, steamy “happily ever afters” to every story, and hope that “their boys” will give readers a delicious escape into a world where love always wins.
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