Lucky's Real Life Romance Novel

Chapter 1

Clarksville.

Never heard of it before moving here, but it existed. A small town that was actually fairly large compared to the cities around it. So close to Kentucky, that my gps would welcome me to different states every time I tried to make a Walmart run. My dad moved us here two weeks ago. He had a habit of chasing inspiration, and this time, it led us to Tennessee. My dad was a horror writer. He loved a good mystery and murder, although you would never be able to guess by looking at him. He was a middle aged man with a pretty lanky build, reading glasses that always sat on his face, and graying hair. People who know him would call him quirky and awkward, but sweet. He was just one of those nerds, and unluckily for me, I was his spitting image. I wasn't as tall and lanky as he was, but I was kind of awkward. My vibrant honey brown hair almost always sat in a messy bun. I wore glasses for the effect of seeing clearly, and I also loved to read and write.

Just one of those nerds.

I wrote on reading apps often and liked to keep to myself. At my previous school, I didn't have any friends. I was the one who's head was always too far in a book to notice the living people around me. I didn't expect this school to be any different.

I sat in front of my computer as I read through the comments for my latest installment of the romance book I was writing. Romance, fantasy, and werewolf novels were my favorite to write, but I seemed to be running into problems with my latest venture: Lilac Moon. I hesitantly scrolled through the comments.

Who wrote this, a preschooler?

So the main characters just fell in love at first sight? How cliché.

Does this writer even understand how love works? It feels like I'm reading a tv show script.

I sighed as I leaned back in my chair in my room. They weren't wrong. I didn't know the first thing about what love actually felt like. I was always too busy reading and writing about it.

"Lu, dinner time," my dad announced from my open doorway. I swiveled in my chair before following him down to the dining room where the macaroni and cheese was ready to be eaten. I made a bowl for myself before picking at my food with a sigh.

"What's wrong? Nervous about school tomorrow?" My dad asked, picking up on my mood. I hesitated before shaking my head.

"It's not that. It's just... Dad, how do you make your books so captivating. I'm trying, but I think the problem is, I don't understand the feelings of my subject matter," I gave in. My dad smiled lightly before looking into his bowl.

"If you don't understand something, you can always study it. For my books, I always loved playing the board game 'Clue' when I was a boy. I loved hearing about interesting stories about serial killers and watching the 'First 48'. My interest in crime slowly turned to writing, but I had a lot of studied material I could work from. I also visit actual murder sites to get a feeling for the scenery," he explained.

"So you're saying I should emerge myself in my subject matter?" I asked for clarification. My dad nodded as he chewed his food thoughtfully.

"Honestly, my morals won't let me actually commit deeds done in my books, but getting the feelings right is most of the battle," he confirmed.

"Get the feeling..." I muttered to myself before I went back to my food. After dinner, I went back up to my room to start planning. Tomorrow would be my first day at a new school. My female lead in Lilac Moon was also enrolling at a new school. How to be the new kid, I could guess but I needed to figure out how to make the connections between my male and female lead without it being instant. What were real life coincidences that would bring people together? I wanted to find out. I wanted to make my stories more believable. I wanted my readers to feel like they were the ones falling in love. I wanted to give them real life problems and plot twists. Tomorrow, I couldn't go through the day with my head stuck in a book.

It was time to find my real life male lead.