Louis Tomlinson has tried so hard to not be who he really is. He has worked for years to not be a person that people don't accept. The walls he built are slowly torn down by a tall boy with green eyes. Add Louis, Harry Styles, a pride parade, and a...
Here is the majority of questions asked. You can comment your replies to the questions too; I would love to hear about what this story means to you.
Questions About Pride
What does this book mean to you?
Pride is about overcoming problems. You know the line that the only way out is through? Through this story, I knew that I had to face my issues head on just like the characters. I've overcome anorexia in the time I've been writing this book. I'm clean now for the first time in a long time. I'm getting help for anxiety and depression. I had to write about Harry and Louis both facing similar problems. Pride, to me, means that if they can do it and I can write it, then I can do it too.
What was your main goal for this story?
My main goal would probably be to show all of the readers everything I know. I want you all to see that there are medical causes of depression that are worth checking out. There are people who can talk to you. You can get help. This whole story was to teach the readers to look inside yourself. What can you fix? What do you love? What are you proud of?
Did you ever think that this book would get so big?
It continues to freak me out how many people are reading this. It's crazy. I get overwhelmed every time I look at the map of where you are all from... I have never left the country, but when I talk to you guys, it almost feels like I have.
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Was this the way you planned on writing this book?
The book took more turns than I expected. I knew Louis's backstory involving conversion therapy and Eleanor, and that was it. I had no other plans than wanting to end at a pride parade after the nightclub shooting. I think that my problems leaked onto my characters. I felt alone and hurt a lot of the months writing this, and these characters became me. They became my family. I made them the friends that I wish I had. The characters led the story for me, but I think it was a part of my brain trying to help myself.
Did you have a plan for the plot that didn't work out?
In all honesty, I was planning on killing Zayn in the nightclub attack. I decide against it. I felt more respectful to leave the attack how it really happened.
What was your inspiration to write this?
I got inspired to write this because I had a dream about a kiss at a pride parade as a protest in front of a church. I wanted to be able to relive that dream because it felt so full of love and equality.
What inspired you to write Louis's backstory?
I did learn about conversion therapy for the first time in American Horror Story. I did my own personal research only to discover that they weren't far off from the real thing. I watched movies like Spotlight that also alluded to a problem between Christianity and gay people. As a Christian, I wanted to show what could happen, but I also included the scene where Louis goes back into a church for the first time to show that that's what real Christianity should feel like. "Love your neighbor as yourself" is real Christianity and real love to me.
