I felt I needed to provide some ‘explanation’ for the story. Perhaps my ‘why’ for writing it. So here goes.
Since 2018, I’ve created significant change in my life. I left my role at a business I helped build for 11 years (from employee #1 to VP, shareholder, and board member). I left the relationship I had been in for 9 years, I kicked booze and lost 80lbs among other thing. As I was leaving the business, I had the opportunity say ‘good-bye’ to a number of people over several months including clients, suppliers and employees. I was feted, thanked, and acknowledged. I grew to understand the impact I had on people and what I meant to them. I felt it was like being eulogized. Only recently have I fully appreciated what that meant to me.
My decision to leave the business was propelled by a belief that if I didn’t make significant change in my life, I would soon die or, at the very least, become gravely ill from the stress and depression I was experiencing. It was not all bad. I had a good life but I was the wrong person in that life.
I have the opportunity to grow from what my colleagues and friends shared with me, and take the best of that life to live more fully than I was.
Finally, in this time of Covid, there are so many people are dying unexpectedly, quickly and without the opportunity to say goodbye properly. The world is going through a massive existential crisis.
In writing Backstage at the Garden of Eden, I’m writing about many kinds of passages, transitions and yes, deaths. Grace, one of the central characters, is trying to ‘reconcile’ the life that she lived or could have lived.
I am still working through the many story threads, determining which ones are significant, which ones intersect and which ones I want to keep or throw away. This is a part of this process of ‘writing in the wild.’
Here are a few of the key storylines and characters so far:
Grace (Grace Part 1 & 2)– we find her in the hospital after her death from a drunk driving accident – she was the driver. She killed someone (we learn later who that was). We may see her at various times in her life (in the living world) and she re-enters to help people in the living world pass through to the unliving world (death). She may also help people still in the living world, have a spiritual or ‘other worldly’ experience. She is also know as The Apprentice.
Lalitha (The Hospice) – is the Manager of the Hospice where Grace works. Lalitha is a compassionate and ‘all knowing’ character. We don’t know much about Lalitha at this stage. She keeps a close eye on Grace. We don’t know when in the ‘chronology’ this fits. Niall is a character that appears at the Hospice but not sure of his importance. Auni appears as a minor character, a male nurse or attendant.
Uncle Jake (Uncle Jake)– Grace’s Uncle. A significant character in Grace’s growing up. The story is incomplete here.
Mr. (Teddy) Theriault & wife Isabelle ‘Belle’(Mr. Theriault Parts 1-5) – appear in the Daniel story and in the Hospice where Grace works. He also currently appears in the Gabriel story briefly. His wife Isabelle was a school teacher and was killed by a drunk driver. They are both avid gardeners.
Daniel (Mr. Theriault Part 1, 2 & 5) – one of Isabelle Theriault’s students and rode Mr. Theriault’s school bus. He was killed tragically. He appears to bring Mr. Theriault ‘home’ as he passes.
Gabriel (Part 1 & 2) – a young man who had a very distant relationship with his father and a very warm relationship with his mother, who died at a young age. He is a writer who hides his gifts from his father and maintains the illusion of being a successful business man. We have seen his father’s funeral where Grace appears. There is more to come of this story. He has a cloying fiancée who needs further development.
Gloria (Michael Part 1) - Judith & Michael are her children. A woman who Grace helps pass. Grace intersects with Michael before his mother’s death to give him some insight/ peace about his relationship with his mother. Judith has some closure with her mother too.
Louise(Louise Part 1 & 2) – Louise’s story is set during and just after WWI. We find her as a nurse caring for the dying. After the war she is found working in a bar. She has a love interest in the form of Simon(e) a former nurse who is hiding her gender or perhaps embracing her true identity. There is more to this story that has not yet be shared. Does this story belong in a different book? So far it exists on its own during a different time. There is definitely more detail to come on this story!
I hope this summary helps rather than creating more confusion.
All of the posts are on my Substack website (https://lindamcl.substack.com/). It’s a better way to go back to re-read if necessary, rather than finding old emails sent to you as I may have made edits on the site after the emails go out.
I welcome your input or questions. Feel free to email me directly (linda@lindamclachlan.com) or post a comment in the thread.
I will come back to posting more consistently in the New Year.
Writing in the wild! What a wonderful way to share your process. Linda, you are an inspiration! Thank you for showing your beautiful work.