Love Songs

Final Thoughts on Love Songs

I didn't really want to write an afterword, because it seemed overly self-indulgent and generally pedantic in a sad, pretentious way. But I totally fell in love with this story writing it, and now that it's over...well, laying it to rest is harder than I thought it would be! So I'm considering this part of the healing process for myself.

I'm only half kidding.

Anyway, there's a couple things I wanted to clear up. I wanted to talk about the message! Because who doesn't love a good moral lesson? And you guys are probably thinking "ugh, why does she have to go and ruin a perfectly good story with a moral?" Well, thank you for calling my book perfectly good. (;

Yeah, I'm going so far as to call Love Songs a modern day fable. The process of character development went far deeper than it seems, and you guys may think I'm making this up (and I'm not, I swear) but every character had a purpose.

The characters I put in this story are representative of the basic components of every ego...at least as far as I'm concerned. I might have even gone so far as to relate them to the seven deadly sins, because Shay is so obviously lust, and Rihannon, hello envy, and well, Bella, you seem an awful lot like wrath...

But I couldn't find a gluttony, so I put that whole allegory to bed and moved on.

So,  back to that whole everyman concept, that's something I truly mean. In a broader sense, Shay is representative of desire, while Jessica confusion, Allie dellusion, Rihannon jealousy, Bella insecurity, Matthew introversion, Darius the mistakes we make.

The reason I put all these characters into one setting and had them interact, was to prove a point. And now you're all thinking "Wow, Railene, you're so genius!"

Really, you're too kind. (;

But, as we saw in the book,  the interaction these characters had was sometimes beautiful, and sometimes cataclysmic. Just like life. Why? Because each of these people is all of us. And we all have our beautiful moments, along with our catastrophes.

Accept it. We're all the hero sometimes, and we're all the bad guy. Don't take anyone at face level is the point I suppose I'm trying to make.

Furthermore, there's the theme of secrets. The whole secrets idea was present throughout the entire story, and I tried to develop it through using the motifs of closets, and clothes.

Anyone remember "Shay, your clothes are all over the floor!"?

And you were probably like, "Wow, Railene, you freak. That was so random. Why was that even in there? I was planning on this scene being highly erotic, and you've disappointed me." *Refuses to vote on chapter out of spite*

But I've fooled you all. Me and my literary puzzles. 

While Jessica mentions keeping her clothes neatly in her closet. Jessica has secrets to keep, while Shay has never been one to keep to herself. And that whole idea is further strengthened when you think back to that Shay's big secret originated in a closet, where it stayed, figuratively, for a long time.

Not that I really have a message, and I'm not going to play Jesus and tell you what to do with your secrets, because really, who am I?

So I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that one.

Anyways. 

Thanks so much for reading Love Songs, and my stupid little afterword that probably has no business being here. 

I would have used this place to plug my next story, but guess what? I have no idea which one I'm putting out next. (And yes, I have like twelve of them started. Decisions, decisions.)

Sooooo, until next time, I love you all.

Xoxoxoxoxo
- Railene