A few days ago I got a message on Facebook from Deidra who recently read End of Mae and loved it. I’m not sure if she wanted her whole name used so I’m blocking it out for privacy.
I confess, I haven’t been thinking about Mae much since the Mae Awareness Month. I haven’t been working on the next book, End of Joon, either. But this exchange, and the fact that Mr. Smith has started writing his book again, have gotten me daydreaming about Me and Heylel once again – my favorite dysfunctional couple ;p
Deidra studied the cover and found a few things I’d hidden in there that give hints to the next book and even saw more than I’d added. One of the things she saw was RIP carved into the top left hand corner of the tombstone. I see it now, but I didn’t add that on purpose.
The tombstone being on the cover was random. I liked it and designed the cover based on visual appeal but odd coincidences keep popping with it. For instance, there is a skull on the book cover just behind the “E” in End. Much later, when I was laying out the details for the next story a Crystal Skull figured into it.
Another creepy coincidence has to do with dates. I’ve always been fascinated by that old tombstone because of the dates. William Wolfe was born on Valentine’s Day and died on the summer solstice. When I decided to finish End of Mae I knew I wanted it to be finished by the end of May so I was writing up to 16 hours a day at times to get it done. I finally finished writing the entire story on May 21st, 2011… on the 89th anniversary of William Wolfe’s death, and incidentally the date of Harold Camping’s predicted rapture.
So now that Deidra has got me thinking about End of Mae and what happens next I’ve gotten excited again. I couldn’t sleep for hours last night as details fell into place and different scenes played out in my mind. A few hints: Dr. Smeltzer gets his just desserts. Prym is fired and comes back. Heylel goes thru some reminiscing about his only love (not Mae) and how he destroyed her. As a reporter Mae finds her unceasingly curious nature is not only heightened but now she doesn’t need to fear things that go bump in the night. She is one. Finally, William W Wolfe makes a significant appearance.
And with that, I better get writing so I can sleep tonight!
Original photo and the cover of End of Mae
:D It;s about time you got to work on that story ;p
You can’t be giving us teasers like you did at teh end and then not work on it. I’m looking forward to what comes next.
*goes and looks at the cover of her “End of Mae” copy*
Lol… Yes Ma’am! The beginning will be changing slightly and things are getting even twister than I thought they would be. I can’t wait to design the next cover… I wonder if it to will have surprise clues…
I’m absolutely floored and HONORED that my name is in this blog post, and for the RECORD, I did read “End of Mae” and couldn’t put it down. …okay, I did put it down to finally go take a shower, but all through the shower, I couldn’t stop obsessing over what was happening in my absence.
I got out of the shower and read the rest while wearing a wet towel – THAT’S how into it I was.
Angela, if my comments or enthusiasm or curiosity or interest or obsession caused you to continue in your wonderful talent, then…. YAY FOR ME!!! hahahahahahaaaa… no really – YAY for you!
I’m thrilled, and I can’t wait to read more. That’s how I felt while I was reading “End of Mae”, and that’s how I feel now knowing there is more to come.
Thank you for sharing yourself with the world in this way. I’m so thrilled that you do, and do it so very well.
Deidra
Deidra,
You are an authors dream come true ;p