We Were Liars | ONC 2020 ✔

Author's Note + Random Useless Trivia

Title: We Were Liars
Author: Alex Zachary Lai
Type: Novella
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror
Date Started: February 20, 2020
Date Finished: May 3rd, 2020
Number of Chapters: 19
Word Count: 39, 185 words

So...I see we've come to the end of We Were Liars, otherwise known as the writing project to give me the most anxiety in my life. There were so many times where I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to complete this novella...and yet, I still did, less than a week before the deadline :P

Honestly, this is a mothertrucking disaster, but it's my mothertrucking disaster 😂 and you bet your ass I'm proud of it :P I really hope you guys have enjoyed the looong ride, though!

I will be starting editing in a few months, due to the sudden dip of quality in the middle of the book, so I hope you guys will stick around for a revised version of We Were Liars!

Now, on to a few of my personal thoughts about this book, because I love oversharing. I'm going to put it out here: I hated Canterbury at the beginning, and I hoped readers would too. I wrote him to be an egoistical, easily hateable character, but somehow, that damned weasel managed to worm his way into the readers' hearts 😤 like WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT HIM

i'm five years old on the inside i swear---

Resgarding the ending, yes, that was intentional. I felt like a bittersweet note speaking of more suspense ahead was the best way to end this book, because I just can't give my characters 100% happy endings. I'm amazed with how much my babies have evolved though 😭 especially Canterbury

Will there be a sequel? It's a possibility. I've set the stage for a potential sequel in the epilogue, by having Nat remark on the fate of the remaining Liars AND giving readers a brief introduction to Ezra's baby brother, Harry Sawyer---who would most likely be the protagonist of the story if there was a sequel. But for now, I think We Were Liars works just fine as a standalone. At least, until I've finished editing it.

I'd like to thank everyone for all their support on this novella---ah, screw it. I'm not giving a Nobel acceptance speech. I don't need to be formal. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING AROUND WITH THIS TRAINWRECK I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH ❤❤❤

anyways, before i embarrass myself further, on to some trivia---

TRIVIA

I went through many drafts and many ideas for We Were Liars, so it only seemed fair to include a bit of trivia about its original drafts in here---as well as some fun facts about its characters! Hope you enjoy!

• Canterbury was supposed to die in the prologue. The first draft of the first few parts I wrote involved Canterbury being drowned in the first chapter, and then Avery narrating the story as the main protagonist.

• In the second draft, Canterbury was supposed to die in chapter six or seven. My second idea involved a Before/After timeline, in which the first bit would be narrated by Canterbury. The Liars would have caught and drowned him after a few chapters. Nat Evans would then have taken over as the protagonist and narrating voice. Ezra was also assigned as Nat's love interest in the second draft.

• Avery was meant to be the killer. Which wouldn't have been much fun, since it would have been obvious from the start, but my original draft was more of a psychological thriller than a mystery book. After I'd decided that Canterbury would live through the book, I wanted to make Avery constantly hunt him and finally be caught. Lark was meant to be the one who drowned. However, I felt that was too predictable, so I switched the roles.