The Other One {Harry Styles AU}

The story behind the story...

So, I've been asked several times about the back story of this book. It is based in part on my real life.

One day, in July 2014, I was sitting at the Panera restaurant in Burbank, CA with a writer friend of mine. We met every day that summer to work separately on our young adult novels. (Mine, Black Mist, is available here on wattpad in an older form). She was toying with an idea for a new novel in which the narrator is planning to commit suicide. As she bounced ideas off me, my brother's face kept floating through my mind.

My brother is alive, for the record (that's him in the pic, with me on my wedding day). But a few years ago, he confessed to me that he had been a cutter when he was a teen, had attempted suicide more than once back then, and had called a suicide hotline before abandoning his life in San Francisco to go live with my mother in Portland.

So, as this friend of mine kept talking about how her character's suicide would impact her relatives, I started imagining what my life would have been like if my brother's attempts had been successful. And then like a flash, the image of him swinging from the orange tree in our childhood backyard came to my mind, and I just started writing.

Nearly all of the THEN chapters are real moments from my childhood.  My father really was that monster, though he suffers now from Parkinson's disease and therefore doesn't remember the monster he once was. My mother really is that judgmental bitch, and I don't have much of a relationship with her as a result; I love her, and we're trying, but life is not fiction, and it's not as easy for me as it was for my character. My brother is still quite broken, 41 and unemployed, living a strange hermit-like existence in my mother's house. But he is alive, and so maybe that's enough for now. [11/15/16 update: my brother is 42 and works as a caption writer for tv shows like "Game of Thrones" and the Hulu original "Casual," but he's still a hermit.]

Much of the relationship between Harry and Maddie is based on my relationship with my husband, who taught me how to love myself (NOT LIKE THAT YOU SICK MINDED INDIVIDUALS!! 😂). I've been married for 15 years. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Loving someone is easy. But binding your life to someone is not.

And obviously most of the rest of the plot is fictional. I am not a rich and famous actress (but bro, imagine if I was!). I wish I was rich. Lol. And I don't get to fuck Harry. That is the ugliest sentence I've ever written.

Now I'm just rambling. 😹

Anyway, I am thankful for all of you who have read, and for all the comments about how this story affected you. It was very cathartic and therapeutic to write. My goal was to write something that mattered, something that made readers feel. To cry, to laugh, to get a little hot and bothered. 😉

There is a sequel in progress! It starts from Harry's pov and we get to know more of this fictional Harry's back story (based in part on what we know of his real life but mostly just made up by me) and his thoughts about Maddie. I find it interesting to revisit the story from his pov, as it gives me some distance from the real-life events included. The story will eventually pick up where this one left off and go forward with new plot.

All the love, as always,
Annie

PS- if you ever want to ask me anything, I will answer. You can either comment here, or message me privately. But don't feel like you have to make it private just cause the question may seem personal. I will answer anything.

PPS- follow me here on wattpad to get my updates and bizarre middle of the night ramblings 😂

PPPS- Oh and you can find me fangirling on the various social media as WalkstarStyles. I post lots of gifs of Harry, like this:

and pics of my cat, like this:

(Molly.
She really smells like syrup)