I recently had a contest on my Facebook page. In return for a chance to win a cover flat of the last book in the Zodiac series, The Neon Graveyard, readers told me their favorite lines from the series to date. The results were both surprising and confirming in that though I write fantasy, the aspect more commented on – and presumably enjoyed – was the relationship between Jo and others. I don’t think my readers are any different than me in that they enjoy an occasional snarky one-liner or a nicely turned phrase. As fantasy readers they also want to be whisked away to a world just a tad left of center from our own. But it’s said that while people may pick up a book for the story inside, they stick around because of the people they meet there. (I say people, not characters, because if the writer has done her job well, that’s what they become when coupled with the magic of the reader’s mind, and I generally trust that I’ve done this once they’ve become real to me.)
In any case, the compiled results of my contest let me know what really spoke to readers about the Zodiac world. It’s telling, too, to hear what they remembered off the top of their heads, as they’ll have consumed 775,000 words by the time they’ve read the whole of the series. And while I’ve had my own favorite moments while writing it, it’s the reader’s connection with Jo (in particular) that matters most.
So what was the one quote in the hundreds of thousands that touched my readers the most? It was, unsurprisingly, from my relationship subplot, spoken by Hunter to Joanna in CITY OF SOULS, in one of her greatest moments of personal despair:
“This is important. Don’t believe him. Warren, I mean. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. Not even in the darkest corner of that beautiful soul.”
As I said, this was incredibly clarifying. It reminded me that people care most about the human experience – love, joy, fear, sorrow and humor – and how we’re all connected through it (even if we aren’t necessarily stubbornly damaged superheroes).
You can bet I’ll continue writing directly toward this most personal connection in the future.
