Daydream Dating

Behind The Scenes

Just in case you're interested, I usually add a section about the creative energy behind my full length stories. Welcome to the crazy world of my semi-creative process!

How the story got started-

As a teenager, I was very daydreamy, and yes I invented an imaginary boyfriend. What can I say...And, like Mallory, my imaginary crush did actually materialize! Same look, same interests and same name. It was cool, but also a little creepy. He did become my real boyfriend for about a week. It's a happy memory. I thought the concept would make a great story.

Why it took so darn long to finish-

I don't really know, I started it with a ton of excitement. I knew how I wanted it to end. But I ran out of steam once More Than This came about, and spent my writing energy on that story instead. It seemed like other stories kept jumping out of no where that absorbed my focus.

In January, I was inspired to create a playlist in hopes that I would be reinvigorated to finish this. It did really help! Then I randomly decided to pitch this story to the Limitless Twitter pitch party for wattpaders, and they liked the pitch! So I had to rush to finish the entire thing, revise and edit and then submit it within a two week window.

Done and done!

How the music was chosen-

The first song was Invisible by 5SOS. Then I started choosing songs I'd heard on the radio or that my kids had downloaded and played on repeat. That's how I came up with the over-played concept and kept choosing songs that at one time everyone loved and now make all of us gag.

All of those extra characters-

I have to say that each character was a loose interpretation of someone I knew in high school. There was a "Dylan", who was nicer in real life but did call me by the wrong name for an entire year. There was a "Gina" who wore all black, but we were pretty good friends already. I have to say the "Mia" was just a cartoon of your typical mean girl. And the same goes with Mallory's ride or die crew, they were all representative of various levels of friends a typical high school girl might have.

I have to say that Seth had a tiny bit of my real brother...just a touch. My bro is not a douche. And her parents were mildly patterned after mine, but just the little touches, not the whole picture.

Overall, this was a "What if..." look back at my own experiences in high school.

Epilogue-

One is on its way! It will take place when Mallory is in college, and will be a compliment to the "Introduction." I am currently planning it out, so sometime in the next few weeks, look for an update!

Thanks for reading! And if you liked this story, you'd also like my Hope series: Guarded Hope and Waiting For Hope, as well as my biggest teenfiction story, More Than This.

You can also read my new adult contemporary romance, Broken Lullaby, co-written with Catrina Burgess! It's also complete and it's sequel, Broken Promises, is in the works.