My dear readers,
2018 brought happiness, sadness, and everything in between. I’m so happy to have been able to meet many of you while on tour, to have had the fortune to visit places I’ve never been, to have had some of you write to tell me how much The Reckoning of Noah Shaw meant to you. I am proud of it, and prouder still to have your trust and your eagerness while I write the ending that Mara, Noah, and all of my characters deserve. I wish that my grandmother could be here to see it, and that Vincent could be on my lap still as I work. But wishing something doesn’t make it true, and wanting something does not make it real.
I know too well that you all know that, after reading your messages and DMs and emails about many of the things you wrestle with: depression, anxiety, mental illness, chronic pain, grief, loneliness. I thought about keeping it light in this last newsletter of 2018. I thought about keeping it light in the books, too. But that would dishonour the stories you’ve shared with me, and the authenticity you’ve found in my characters. It would dishonour your resilience as you break through the waves that feel like they might drown you, how you’ve gulped the air at the surface, insisting on survival, one breath at a time. It would insult your daily bravery as each of you keep going, on this last day of 2018, and in 2019 and beyond.
In gratitude for what you do for yourselves, I hope you enjoy this scene from Evolution. It’s the very first part of the beach scene, from Noah’s point of view. In its earliest iteration in 2009, the writing was abominable–like, embarrassingly so. But over time, with perspective, and most of all, with practice, I managed to write the right version from Mara’s perspective, and now, finally, the right one from Noah’s. This is part one. Part two I’ll share tomorrow, to ring in 2019 with the right tone.
Wishing you a happy, healthy, hopeful New Year,
xM
