Distractions (D. SWING)

Q&A + More

Happy New Year!

I've been writing this book for years now. It all began one day in April 2017 and I may have gotten carried away. Thank you so, so much. I had a lot of fun writing this book. It was supposed to be a lot sadder as you can see at certain moments but I think it worked out. Anybody whose read something that I've completed knows that I love to explain some of the hidden gems people may not have noticed. Another thing I once did is respond as the characters in the books when doing a Q&A. Over time I've come to realize that regardless of how fun that can be, it leaves space for questioning. I'm not doing a sequel to this because it's a spin-off and in the canon world she ends with someone else and for that reason, I'll be answering any questions as the author, meaning my replies are most final answers possible.

For the bigger portion of this, I will break it into sections to keep it clean and neat. If you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns then please feel free to ask away and I will do my best to answer it as clearly as I can. Four years in the making, posting these in real time, can make things a little sloppier than I'd like. So, once again, thank you so much for reading and that especially goes for people who have been here the entire time. The fanbase is on life support waiting for this tour next year and people still came here once a month for an update. I'm beyond grateful.

Enough of my rambles. Here is what most came for.

First things first would be questions. I really like inlined questions but that's just a preference. Ask whatever you want. From this point on, anyone not interested in seeing me babble about the book can go on free. I'll put a space for the inline questions though.

Questions

Easter Eggs

1. Nel's Dreams.
The dream sequences in this book crack me up. They are pretty severe and the comments would lose it. I did it on purpose, obviously. Nel is dramatic and it had to match. One of the first dream sequences is Nel and Alexis standing in Paris. Only French is being spoken and Alexis, basically, tells her that he will never leave if we give a rough translation. He is would be DeVante. No questions asked for that part. Then, the both die. A piece of Nel dies when she finally leaves DeVante. It's pretty self explanatory. Many of the dream sequences include French for two reasons. One, it's said in the past that Nel speaks French. Two, French is the language of love and this is a story of unconditional love becoming the undoing of two lovers.

I can also address the infamous three children— Who I loved so fucking much as I was writing! This book is long so I don't fault anyone for not remembering details but there are three reoccurring children in a number of Nel's dreams. One is a boy, one is a girl, one's gender is unrecognizable. Each child has their thing. One child has a thin lace veil across their eyes, think Computer Blue in Purple Rain. One child is covering their ears the entire time. The last child, I believe, has a melted or damaged mouth. Together they represent the phrase: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. In one of the dreams they sing Three Blind Mice in French. Each mice in the song would represent DeVante's mind, Nelly's mind, their mind as a union. It highlights the fact that they were drowning and ignoring it.

The most recent dream, I think, is the one of DeVante and Nel standing on the edge of the building. The French kids are there. DeVante and Nel are holding hands as a storm comes in. Both are crying and eventually, DeVante just jumps into the mystery ocean to save them. That was simply a representation of his sacrifice and the fact that their relationship was ending. It made Nel feel guilty and definitely boosted her savior complex that she developed while being with him.