The story that never was…
What’s it like to complete my first series in less than a year? Absolutely amazing!!! This year I promised myself to take my writing more seriously and boy am I happy I did. The original palace series started with Justice being my main character and focus and his love interest? None other than the toxic, she-devil herself, Charly Ray. Their story was initially thought up as two misfits falling into the club life as a way to survive during their families’ tough times. Bowie was always the friend he roped into his mischief, but as I started their story, I quickly realized how heavy the content was and wanted the series to start off more light-hearted which led Bowie coming first. His story was supposed to be fun, introducing a single mother and sports professional (ties to K.T Hamilton a.k.a Keisha Higgins from The Pieces). Thanks to a little monster who deleted and cracked my Macbook parts of that story was lost which had me doing a little bit of a 180. The love between Bowie and Chrissie was new and came from a place where they both suffered through infidelity and heartbreak.
With personalities like Justice and Charly, they were too big and stubborn to make a healthy relationship work. Heavenly came out of nowhere, just a sweet, southern, church girl who fell for the bad boy. The unique thing about their love is that they only loved each other from the moment they laid eyes on each other. She was his person and vice versa. Their fear of hurting the other is what led to their initial demise, but what they have has always been undeniable. Mayson…he was a character that I didn’t personally care for and didn’t even think to give a true voice.
It wasn’t until Justice’s story that he began to scream to me. The easter eggs of a relationship between him and Charly were definitely planted and spawned into one of the longest and in my opinion emotional stories I’d ever written (okay, between Mayson and Justice it’s hard to really say!). Mayson was the guy who loved the deepest while yearning for the same love in return. Despite his mouth at times, he was never, not a good friend to the boys. Creating a person who loved him beyond the persona and riches was a bit of a challenge. Kensington was young and though she was mature, she didn’t quite understand love and relationships herself. Both of her parents loved her and she was surrounded by it whereas Mayson only felt it from his boys and Henry.
The unique things about writing and creating characters is that they truly speak to you and you connect to them. The hardest scene I wrote in Mayson’s story was when he gave Kensi his mother’s necklace. He knew and understood that giving her up meant he was giving up on a true chance at real love. Even though he didn’t know the necklace was from his biological mother, it was a trinket that he felt connected to—a symbol of love from his mother. To know at such a young age that the feelings he felt were real and that he wasn’t in a place in his life to properly love her his best made me love him more. His decision to fall back into Charly’s web was because of their connection. She had tougher skin, she understood his imperfections, and did things to him that made him look past a lot of things. Throughout the story we see him sacrifice so much for other people, his happiness, love, and hope, while still being there for his boys. I am so happy to give his voice light, though these last three months had been hell! My entire family is on a Mayson hiatus right now. I hope you enjoyed this series and the families in them. Several characters will have spin-offs starting with Rowan aka Honor and John & Cari.
