Author’s Notes for Scars of Anarchy

Personal Journey

The base of this story was written within a week. Which is pretty crazy to think about, but it’s true. In June 2022, my second son was born with some medical concerns, so for six long months, I was focused on what he needed and did not do any large creative projects in that time. Which was not normal for me at all. But it was necessary. In his first month, he was too small to bring home, so we were driving every day up to the hospital. Once he was home, he had a multiple doctor’s appointments a week. He needed special food, special care, and special attention. Once things with him began to slow down, the holidays picked up, and a lot of family wanted to meet him for the first time, which was such a blessing.

It was not until January of the following year that things were finally calm enough to get back to being creative. As soon as I put pen to paper, it was like I realized how blocked up my creative outlets had been. An entire story came flooding out faster than I could really keep up. Of course there was some editing and rewriting to do before the story was polished enough to be a book, but I basically wrote the core of this in less than a week. Over 100,000 words. In six days.

To this day I am still baffled at how much I wrote. My son is growing just fine, running and playing like any kid his age. It was a very special time back then, and every time I look at this book, I’m reminded of all God did for our family back then. I truly am blessed.

Story Theme

I had a friend tell me that the strength in my writing could be found in my characters, and that is about the best compliment I have ever been given about my craft. Because I love writing characters. World building is a lot of fun, exploring themes are exciting, but it’s the characters that are the heart of my stories. The people. The journeys they go on, the friends they make, and the things they discover about themselves.

The characters in this story have all been through a lot. They’ve been hurt and mistreated, and from the pain they’ve experienced, they’ve lashed out, each in their individual ways. Somehow, they all end up in one place, in a house that has seen so much pain over the years, it has manifested into its own scarred being. As each character goes day after day, facing whatever adversary haunts them, they clash with others in the house. It’s not pretty, and sometimes the only sense of comfort that can be found is the knowledge that they aren’t the only one suffering.

This book is quite intense. But the theme is hope. There is always hope. Even in the darkest places where it seems like the light can never reach, there is still hope, and the ability to make a good choice, not an evil one. I write stories with the intention of showing that even the most bleak situations can improve. The most toxic relationships can heal. And the most broken people can be made whole again. Perhaps what’s haunting the characters will never go away, but within that storm they are caught in, there is peace and hope to be found in one another. Also, there’s a heist, questionable science experiments, some evil rich Italians, secret organizations, and a lot of explosions.

Where Did I Get this Idea?

Something I have often found myself doing is looking at characters who are broken and hurting and actively harming those around them because of it… and I wonder about what it would take for them to come back from that. As humans, we can be quite cruel, even when we don’t mean to be. It is the folly of human nature. But I serve an amazing God, and I have seen Him take people and relationships and situations that seem hopeless, that seem broken beyond repair, and I have watched Him put it all back together, one piece at a time.

It’s rarely a fun process. In fact, it’s usually hard to watch and hard to handle if you’re in the middle of it. But somehow, God always manages to bring peace and reconciliation, as long as those involved are willing to have it. So when I sat down to write, that was the idea I had in mind. A story that took place in a dark and hopeless situation, where characters did not always do the right thing, but learned how to grow and heal without needing the permission or even acknowledgement from their abuser.

Characters

Spiderwick is my absolute favorite character in this story. Her anger is pretty loud and violent, but also understandable. Even when her anger causes problems, you understand exactly why given all that has happened to her. But she has a personality beyond her anger. She’s curious, calculative and methodical, eager to learn new things, willing to test every possibility rather than just toss it aside, and she’s loyal. She won’t leave her friends, even in a situation where she is actively being hurt. Spider knows the value of sticking together better than anyone.

Dale Winston is a fascinating character to write, because he’s actually the farthest along in his healing process compared to all the other traumatized characters. He’s anxious and easily rattled, but there’s a streak of determination in him and he is a lot smarter than most people assume. It is a regular occurrence for people to underestimate him, and it does not take long for him to realize he can use that to his advantage.

Fun Fact

All of the science experiments mentioned in the book are real! I did quite a bit of research to find the craziest and most dangerous chemistry experiments out there. Do not try any of them at home, please! They may be realistic, but so is the danger!