Talk To Me

|| AUTHOR'S NOTE - I ||

Love. Sadness. Anger. Fear. 

If I had to choose which of the above emotions gripped a reader the hardest, in my personal opinion, it would have to be fear.

There's a certain rhythm that many thrillers follow, be it a movie or a book. That rhythm, broken down to the 5 W's and H, is as follows:

The "What?", is a dead body, or a series of dead bodies.

The "Where?" and the "When?", quite often go hand in hand; combined together they provide a juicy start: "On the 6th of July, 1994, at precisely six-thirty in the morning, a piercing scream shattered the still air of the Garth Manor..."

The "Why?", is a fun game for your own mind. To pick apart at the characters; to figure out their possible motive. It's given in subtle, almost unnoticeable clues.

The "How?", is revealed in tiny snippets. One chapter reveals the murder weapon was a gun. Another reveals how the scene was set for the killer. Another reveals how the killer's alibi was a fake. And so on.

Which leaves, the "Who?". The most damning question of all. The big reveal. The one that's answered at the end of the end, throwing readers off their chairs into a mind-numbing spin of shock and horror.

I attempted to do something different. Something that didn't open with a scream; a person bleeding to death on the floor; a hurried phone call; a ruined party. I decided to finally give in to the thirst that got me writing in the first place: my thirst for something different. Because chugging down the typical had left my tongue parched; dry. Something where the "Who?" wasn't a thrilling question; the cold opening divulges the murderer and the soon-to-be murdered. Something where the excitement for the reveal of the "Who?", is gently shifted to the "How?".

This, is that humble attempt. I faced writer's block only too often, hard enough to make me doubt this book and give it up. But I pushed through, following Hemingway's golden words of advice:

"You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know" 

So I did write the truest sentence I knew. And voila, Talk To Me was born.

And now let us all gracefully approach the humdrum, groan-worthy, serious, grave, but necessary part of the author's note. Hey, you should at least thank me I didn't start off with this; I was all nice and conversational and honest before I got down to serious business.

So like, bear with me. I promise, after this bit, a dangerously delicious story awaits you. And yeah, that's the author speaking. So, not an unbiased opinion, but an opinion nevertheless. 

Firstly, before you read this "humble attempt" of mine, here are a few warnings:

This story contains:

                -Swear/ curse words.

                -Drug and alcohol usage

                -Scenes of violence

                -Unsettling perspectives on morality

                -Sexual scenes

                -Possible triggering material

Hence, the recommended audience is 18+.

Secondly, this story—Talk To Me—is the sole property of me, the author—@ariya2202—and it's not allowed to be copied, plagiarized, translated or distributed anywhere else, including other sites.

All rights are reserved by @ariya2202.

If you happen to see my story anywhere else; posted without my permission, please let me know immediately. To people who think it's alright to copy another artist's work without said artist's permission for their own stupid and selfish reasons, here's what I have to say: get a life, and get—oh god, what is it, this tiny thing, forgot what it's called...oh right: shame. Get a whole sack of it. Stock up big time.

Thirdly, speaking of copying/plagiarizing other artists' works, let me tell you how I've gone out of my way to avoid doing so in this book. Because, in Talk To Me, I've quoted quite a lot of the works of Lang Leav—a brilliant author whose writings I keep quite close to my heart. At the end of this book, in the section titled "Quotations", I've listed down each and every writing of hers I've quoted, stating the chapter it's been quoted in, along with the title of the writing, and the book/books it's been quoted from. In that section, you'll also find the other works of other incredible artists I've quoted in this book.

So. Read, and enjoy.

I hope.