Hey, everybody! So, tonight I’m doing something a little different. I’m trying this whole vlog thing. I thought it would be great to address reader questions in this way instead of strictly relying on a boring, traditional blog post to do it for me. But, I’m a writer and more comfortable hiding behind a computer screen than being on one. So, I went ahead and wrote a blog post that summarizes or goes with the vlog, which you can watch here or check it out below. But, if you’re not a vlog fan, skip past the video to learn more about the so-called elephant in The Waiting Room.
Okay. Here we go.
There’s a bit of mystery with Sylvie’s character in The Waiting Room. Some may even say it’s a giant hole in the storyline that they can’t quite step over or around. If you just started reading TWR or are planning to read it, I don’t think this video will give anything away regarding the plot, but, nonetheless, you may want to come back to the video later. It’s not going anywhere. It’s the internet where embarrassing, uncomfortable moments never die.
For everyone else who has read TWR, I’m going to take a moment to answer the burning question that is on so many of my readers’ minds.
How is a poor, parentless teenager with no money able to leave her home and put herself through medical school to become that well-respected, ob-gyn that comes back to Marion, Missouri to birth nearly three-fourths of the town’s younger population?
Are you ready for the most candid answer I can give?
I don’t know.
That’s the truthful, albeit possibly disappointing, answer.
Somewhere in my brain between imagination and unconscious thought Sylvie came to life like a bolt from the blue. I was compelled to tell her story even if I didn’t fully understand it. This is how most of my characters form. They are shadows behind my eyes, and in my dreams that tease and taunt me to know them better and to bring them to life, but they never fully reveal themselves to me. And, on paper, in the written form, Sylvie was still a mystery to me. I never really understood her motivations for the choices she made but that didn’t stop me from wanting to tell her story in an exceptional, if incomplete, manner.
So, I made a creative decision to let her story be partially told through those who knew her better than I did. By revealing Sylvie’s life through her daughter, Charlotte, and her nemesis, Harold Klein, we learn as much as we can about a woman that kept her deepest, darkest secrets locked away inside of her. It actually makes you wonder how people would tell your story if you didn’t reveal yourself completely to those who thought they knew you best.
Maybe someday Sylvie will reveal herself to me and tell me more about those years between the time she left Marion and returned as a polished, established, professional woman. Or, maybe, Sylvie will always remain elusive.
For now, there are other stories to tell that I know many of you are waiting to read.
That being said. Has Sylvie spoken to you? Leave a sentence or two or more in the comments below telling your version of how Sylvie became a doctor.
That’s it for now. Stayed tuned for more author confessions, sneak peaks, and more in the upcoming days.
