The Void Between Stars: Book 4 Of The Orion Series

A Note From Sarah

Wow. Another book down. This is really surreal as I type this.

Is this book perfect? No. Will there be edits down the line? Yes.

But...wow. When I finished writing The Orion Star, if you go back and look, I say I wasn't really sure why I wrote the story. And honestly? At the time that was true. Well, it was a half-truth.

I wanted to dissect celebrity culture. I wanted to live vicariously through a male rockstar. I wanted to--to my surprise, because I usually hate them--write a love story. I wanted to write a relatable character.

I wanted it to be fiction but real. I wanted to create a character who was flawed, but not just for the sake of being flawed. I wanted to mimic life, because I felt like, I feel like, that's so important.

We live in a sick world where no one can relate to each other. And while I'm not trying to sound like some Saint, or like I had this grandiose plan all along, I felt compelled to tell this story of not only this really screwed up guy, but show WHY he's screwed up. The world lacks compassion, and I was hoping to inject some compassion into my readers.

Yeah, sure, not every flawed person is a Mother Theresa type figure deep down. Some people are just fucking assholes. Some people are just abusive. Some people are just low-life drug addicts.

But I firmly believe there's something to be said about examining WHY someone is behaving the way they are. And, when half-way through writing The Orion Star I was devastated by losing half my house in a flood, I realized I needed to explore why I behave the way I do. So, halfway through writing The Orion Star, I realized I was trying to make myself a better person.

I know I've said this before, but Orion really is me. My motivation for writing this book [The Void Between Stars] is how The Orion Star ends, and how Falling Star begins. Tristan is struck by a subtle shift within Orion. A shift he can't quite pinpoint.

I also couldn't pinpoint the shift (and I'm the freaking author!). How did someone who had as many problems as Orion get better? I never wanted Orion to be "fixed"--remember? I want this to be realistic. But how does a man who's an alcoholic, blubbering, suicidal mess become...well, a recovered alcoholic who is no longer suicidal and less of a blubbering mess?

I believe people can change. I'm largely pessimistic. In fact, I'd say I'm downright pessimistic to my core. However...I do truly believe if someone really wants to be better, no matter how far they've fallen, they can. It takes courage, and it takes mistakes, and it takes a ton of falling down but getting back up again.

I'm also learning, in my personal struggles, that it requires a certain softness towards yourself.

Because, if I'm being honest, this book was written with the intention of fleshing out my own trauma. Every other book in the series, I've been like, "Hahaha, I'm so Orion.". This book? I'm at a point in my life where I need to be better for myself and for those around me. So, even though it was difficult and emotionally devastating, I dug my heels in and wrote this book, and I unabashedly put me in it.

Yes, throughout the series we see that Orion still goes down rabbit holes (and always will). But he gives himself room to grieve. He allows himself to be present in the pain, to own it, and to call it what it is instead of running from it or pretending everything is fine. Orion grows to, instead of beating himself up over his many flaws, accept them, and learn from them as best he can. And when I wrote the end of The Orion Star and started Falling Star, I didn't get that. I didn't understand that that's what it takes for someone to get better.

I get it now.

No one is perfect.

You don't have to be.

In fact, no one expects you to be, except yourself.

I really hope that one day I can to get where Orion is.

And, perhaps more importantly, I hope you, whoever you are, do, too.

Love,

Sarah, aka QueenStarbuck