Skip to main content

2014 Nationa Noval Writing Month Begins!


I decided it was time to take my outline and short scene I did for a writing workshop and finally make it into the novel I've talked about for many years. What makes this novel so special to me isn't the fact I'm doing it for NaNo, but the fact it is based on true events from my junior year of high school. The main character is a mirror of myself in that year. The emotions I felt when I lost my best friend have never wholly been shared. I have rarely (and very lightly) talked about this event to anyone. I have never faced down this time in my life and I hope during this process I finally heal completely.


A few words to my dear friend:

Dear Jennifer,

This is the first time in 20 odd years I have opened myself up since your passing. I think of you often and I have never forgot all the times we spent together. You truly were my best friend even though you left us all at such a young age. You were just stepping onto the path of life when it was suddenly and tragically brought to an end. You never attended Homecoming or Prom, Graduated from high school, went to college or raised a family with the man of your dreams. The hardest part I think was we all knew and called the person who stole your life...a friend too. None of us were ever the same in the end and to this day it still hunts me how someone so alive as you never had the chance to experience life to its fullest. It still seems so surreal.

I want you to know the book I begin this November is for you and you alone. Those who get the opportunity to read it are lucky as this is our story and how I know you would want me to tell it.

It's funny so many years ago you said I should become a writer and I laughed at you. You always loved my stories and poems. You really knew who I was even with I doubted and never realized it myself.

Your friendship has and always will be with me in my heart. You are always with me when I write. R.I.P and know your memory will live on not only in the hearts of those you touched, but in my work as well.



Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Karin LarsonNovember 4, 2013 at 12:49 PM

    Virginia, I am so sorry you had to experience such a tragedy in your life and at such a young life. Good luck in NaNo. Out of tragic events, a gut-wrenching story which will draw many readers will be born giving a fitting tribute to your friend lost so long ago. I look forward to reading your story once published.

    Karin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VS GrenierNovember 7, 2013 at 4:20 PM

      Thanks Karin. I'm hoping this becomes a published novel, but if it doesn't, that is okay too. I'm doing this more for me and Jen's memory.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Writing Prompt Monday: The Challenge

The idea is too basically express yourself on paper, learn how to use your five senses, or build upon an idea. Think back to when you were in school, it used to only take your teacher saying, “Write a paragraph or one page composition on any subject you want.” This was all it used to take to get those creative juices flowing, but what about now? If you are like me and most writers I know, you have most likely experience the dreaded word “Writer’s Block” from time to time. Getting past this wide-eyed, blank page stare can be hard, and the flashing cursor does not help matters. What is a writer to do? Well it does not matter if you are a New York Best-selling author or an aspiring author, we all need a little creative boost from time to time and that is where my Writing Prompt Monday comes in. In my search for a writing prompt for this week, I came across a great site called Creative Writing Prompts . They have over 300 writing prompts to get your creative juices flowin...
4 comments
Read more

Interview Friday with Author Maggie Lyons

Maggie Lyons was born in Wales and brought up in England before gravitating west to Virginia’s coast. She zigzagged her way through a motley variety of careers from orchestral management to law-firm media relations to academic editing. Writing and editing nonfiction for adults brought plenty of satisfaction but nothing like the magic she discovered in writing fiction and nonfiction for children. Several of her articles, poetry, and a chapter book have been published in the children’s magazines Stories for Children Magazine and knowonder! VS: I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today, Maggie. To get things started can you share what you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Maggie: Very fortunately for me, I’m retired and my son left the nest some time ago. That doesn’t mean I have no other commitments, of course. In fact, I’m very busy as a freelance editor, but I do have the privilege of being able to control m...
4 comments
Read more

Guest Post Wed: Journaling and Personal Growth

Personal growth is the hot topic of the day. You'll notice that nearly every magazine you see, no matter whether it targets men or women, has one thing in common with all the rest: at least one article encouraging some kind of personal growth. These articles tell you about "empowerment," about growing as a person, about controlling your destiny, taking your life in both hands, and following your dreams. Do you need a magazine to tell you to take control of your life? Certainly not! You know deep in your heart whether your life is under control and moving in the direction you want for yourself, or whether you need to take measures to enable that self-control. Here is where you can use journaling to encourage personal growth. Journaling is a very old practice. Logs and field notebooks have been used by scientists, explorers, and travelers for centuries. During the Renaissance of the 14th through 17th centuries, journaling was extremely popular, as a focu...
1 comment
Read more