This story in particular seems to cross all of those, without landing strongly in any one. Which also makes me not marketable as an author either. I think I’ve come to accept this. I don’t fit. But it’s who I am, and it’s what I want to do.
The idea of forcing myself to write in a genre
just to be popular is abhorrent to me. As such, I’m not likely to ever be a
successful author in terms of making a living. Again, I’m just going to have to
be okay with that.
So what do I want to say about Act II?
Side Characters
This is where we meet Hannah, Cara’s best friend since childhood
– though we don’t actually meet her in person. She pops up in text messages and
phone calls, feeling a push from an otherworldly intuition to intervene in Cara’s
life through some cosmic vibrations she’s picking up. Hannah’s a new age girl,
a bit hippy, a bit boho, and even a little witchy. She’s in tune with The Universe
and sensing that things have suddenly started to happen in Cara’s life that are
outside the norm. Despite her penchant for tarot cards, crystals, and
astrology, she acts as a grounding influence in Cara’s life, trying to protect
her and nudge her toward exercising her free will to fulfill the best possible
version of her destiny.
Honestly, we all need a friend like Hannah. The living
embodiment of a guardian angel on earth, looking out for us and loving us
despite our flaws and mistakes. Sigh.
Paige is a side character who has been with us since Act I, but I didn't mention her in my Act I wrap up. She’s Cara’s therapist and a continuing side character who
we do meet in person. She’s kind of a more clinical take on the guidance that
Hannah provides, but instead of simply looking out for Cara, she’s helping her
in this journey to levelling up into the next version of herself. Her role isn’t
just to deal with Cara’s ADHD or her maladaptive daydreaming. She’s parenting
the adult version of Cara in a way, helping her grow as a person.
Subplot
The tropical island survival story. I did talk about this in
one of my chapter discussions, but it’s worth repeating that if this book has B
story, it’s Cara’s ongoing daydream where she’s telling herself a long form
narrative about her relationship with Styles. There is definitely an end point
she’s trying to get to, but for it to feel authentic, she needs to take the
scenic route, make it feel earned. As Act II comes to a close, we see exactly
where she’s going with it (as if we couldn’t guess), even if we don’t quite get
all the way to the climax (pun intended) yet.
The island survival fantasy acts a mirror to what’s happening in Cara’s real life. Marooning herself and Styles on the island isn’t just a setting to bring about wish fulfillment (though it is certainly that). It’s a way for her to work out her feelings and react to the stress she’s under.
When Styles goes missing late in Act II, the island survival story reaches a turning point where Styles is yearning for rescue from the island, to return to his life the way it was - with or without Cara – and is then forced to reconcile that his rescue plane isn’t coming, and accept that his life is different now, and Cara has become his new partner.
He is rescued of course in
real life, but the what we suspect is that something has changed for him. We don’t
quite know the shape of that yet, but the subplot is a hint of foreshadowing
(spoiler alert) that he’s not the same person he was before the incident
between Willow and Griffin that made him go missing.
Themes
The snow globe on the book cover and from the prologue is
officially introduced, as a symbol of a defined time in one’s life that we look
back on – basically the entire Maladaptive narrative that Cara is recounting
for us. Recently I've also started to think of it as also a kind of crystal ball, which brings me to the next theme.
The unknown, as it relates to suspected infidelity, and the denial
vs. acceptance of what is suspected but not known. The time Cara is spending
with Styles, and with River, means she’s spending less time at home with
Griffin. He’s feeling left out, by his own admission, and so is Willow, also according
to Griffin. We only have whatever information Cara has, so there are a lot of
gaps in terms of what actually happened between them. Cara doesn’t know, and neither
do we. But what it does is plant doubt in Cara’s mind for sure, and in Styles’
mind, we assume. The lines begin to blur, and it creates space for Cara to
decide where she wants to align herself.
Which brings us to another key theme, the idea of levelling up,
or versioning up. Cara makes repeated references to and old version of herself,
and a new version she’s growing into, and being somewhere between them, not
quite ready to leave Cara 1.0 behind, while simultaneously not quite ready to fully
integrate with the emerging Cara 2.0.
It’s probably the most complicated and nuanced aspect of
this theme. Cara 1.0 is her simple life in Niagara Falls with Griffin, the love
of her life. In the absence of fulfilling her interior creative needs, he
fulfills her emotionally, romantically and sexually, and it feels enough. Cara
2.0 on the other hand is her life as a creator in Los Angeles, and it’s tied to
her connection with Styles. This version is creatively fulfilled and
successful, but there’s a chicken and egg layer to it. Is she motivated to
spend time with Styles to complete Sixty-Six, or is she motivated to complete
Sixty-Six to spend time with Styles? And is there a clear line between the two,
or is it so blurry that it’s impossible to know?
Though it’s never specifically mentioned, I also think there
is a Cara 1.5. And this mid-point version of herself is aligned with River, Hannah
and Paige. They see her transition and they want to help her while not making her
decisions for her. They embody the free will she has to upgrade or revert, but
there is a sacrifice either way that she needs to make. They are her safe space
amid the tumult of being Cara 1.5.
This idea of feeling split or torn also relates to
observations she makes early on in Act II about feeling like she’s become untethered
in the multiverse, slipping into other timelines that she doesn’t belong in,
and her fears that she’s messing things up for the versions of herself in these
other timelines.
Spice Factor
Kind of nil, it turns out. The sexual fantasies of Act I
have taken a back seat to the more emotional, borderline romantic subplot of
Cara’s imaginary relationship with Styles. Maybe this is why readership on
Inkitt has suddenly slowed. I get it. Not everyone likes a slow burn, and it’s possible
that the burn has gone too cold to keep some readers’ attention. I should maybe
look into that, but I also don’t want to insert sex scenes for the sake of it.
They have to serve the story. In Act I they’re all about instant gratification,
but in Act II, it’s all about connection on another level. I promise that sexy
scenes do make a return in Act III, and for anyone who did stick around to the
end of Act II, it should be clear that the payoff to the build up is coming
soon.
General Thoughts
Act II is extremely transitional in nature. Another theme
that I mentioned but didn’t delve into above is one of control, fate, destiny,
and free will. This continues from Act I and I think that it is an overarching concept to the entire novel, but
really comes into the picture in Act II, as Cara starts to see that she’s not
the center of the universe. Looking at it from space, we’re all just particles
in chaos, making decisions that impact each other, bounce off each other. Fate
and chaos are inexplicably kind of the same thing.
Going into Act III
From a “marketing” standpoint, I’m trying another variation on
the cover. Adjusting my genre tags. Trying to find ways to attract more
readers. I actually posted the first chapter of Act III this morning. I’ll do a
blog post on it later. But I’m feeling kind of sad about it. It’s like anything
I have ever put out into the world. There is always this depression that
follows, and I can sense it moving in. I have an idea what I might do after
this, but I wonder if I’ll have the same energy and motivation for it.
I keep trying to remind myself that I’m working under a pen
name, and that it’s my mask, my safety net, that anything that happens or doesn’t
happen isn’t happening or not happening to me, it’s happening to Zinnia
Sherwood. Hear that, internet? You can’t hurt me.
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