Q + A
Thank you to everyone who sent in a question for the Q + A! I got way more questions than I expected, so I’m afraid I couldn’t answer all of them, but - here are some answers for you! I’ll do the personal questions first, and the Soft Touch specific questions second. Here we go!
How long have you been writing? Not necessarily publicly but in general?
You know, when I thought about this, I realized that I wasn’t sure when I first started coming up with stories, so I texted my mom about it. She sent me a photo of the list that I left for Santa when I was little, the nice things I’d done that year versus the naughty things. My mom wrote out the list for me, but you can tell by the handwriting (and spelling!) which was the one thing that I added myself:
So - yeah, it’s been a minute! I started actually writing my stories down when I was old enough, but Soft Touch is my first time sharing any of my writing publicly. (Also: I will not be taking questions about the naughty side of that list, because it’s wildly embarrassing. Apparently I used to bite people when I got frustrated with them.)
I loooove the hands on the cover and I feel that for some chapters, there's a link between the part and the hands. But is there always a link?
Aw, I love the love for the covers! Yes, there is a link - when I’m designing a new one, I think about what’s going to happen in the chapter and try to find little ways to connect them. It’s neat that y’all see the connections, too!
How are you? Have things calmed down a little bit after the move? Do you like your new place?
Aw, thank you for asking! I’m doing good - honestly, the main problem I have right now is that I’m just mad busy, and I wish I had more time to answer comments and respond to you all directly! It eats me up that I’m so behind on that!
I do love my new place - it’s nice to have a few trees outside of my window, kind of a rare find in a city this big! And my new building is a big improvement on the last one I lived in. I’m slowly but surely befriending all of the dogs.🐾
Could you tell us a bit about your pets? I think you’ve mentioned before about them.
Oh, of course! I’ve got a few, and I can talk about them forever, so let me just grab whoever’s closest, and that is… Renault! I got him about a year ago, and he actually came along at the perfect time. I had adopted a kitten before him named Romeo, who unfortunately only had a few months to live, since he was FIP positive. I didn’t know that Romeo was going to bond so much with my other cat, but they grew very close very fast. It was pretty obvious that they were crazy about each other.
After Romeo passed away, it was clear that my girl missed him and needed a new friend - and along came Renault! And he’s even a tuxedo cat, just like Romeo was. Here’s a picture of my lil’ Renault as a kitten.
As you can see from the picture, he had already been through a lot by the time he was rescued, and his eyes were giving him problems. They were giving him less than 10% vision, and they were hurting him, so they had to be removed. It’s all good, though! He’s grown up to be a very happy, active little guy. Since he’s blind, he gets startled easily, so he’s not crazy about being touched. But recently - after a year of having him and resisting the urge to pet him - he changed his mind about it, or maybe he’s just starting to trust me a little more! He’s become very snuggly and will sit and meow at me until I give him pets or kisses. Sometimes he sits on my lap when I’m writing an episode.
Here’s Renault now, a little over a year old! He uses my other kitty as a seeing-eye cat, and follows her around everywhere. She’s actually half-blind, herself, so - she’s maybe not qualified for the job. But she doesn’t seem to mind having a little shadow, and she leads him into all kinds of trouble. And they do cuddle, so Renault is filling Romeo’s shoes (or - pawprints?) like a sweetheart.
Side note: please don’t let anyone you know leave a disabled critter by the side of the road! They’re sweet little lovebugs, they’ll end up at my place, and I fully do not have room for any more! And if you want to adopt an FIP positive kitten like Romeo - they will probably only live for a few months, but you can make those months special and warm for them. It was so hard to lose Romeo, but I definitely wouldn’t undo the decision to adopt him. I’ll always remember those months he was around with a lot of love in my heart.
Hi! I just wanted to say that I'm autistic and because of that I experience a lot of auditory processing issues, and the way I (and many others) experience them is very similar to how you describe Aiden hearing energy all the time. Was this on purpose? Either way it's cool to read :)
Okay, first of all, let me say hello and I love you to any & all autistic readers of mine! I love hearing that you connect with Aiden over this, and I was beaming when I got this question. I really wanted to make sure that Aiden’s hearing ability was a respectful portrayal, since there are people who experience similar things! So I read an autobiography written by an autistic woman, which included information about her auditory processing. That book helped inform what I wrote about how Aiden experiences it. I’m really thrilled to hear that it resonated with you! (Update: Guess I might be autistic, too? I told some of my autistic friends that I don’t think I am, and they found that very funny. Further self-research is underway.)
What ever happened to the car Aiden’s Aunt was getting fixed up for him?
Aunt Sarah fully had no intentions of getting that car fixed, and every intention of making Jamie drive Aiden around until they became friends. It’s still sitting in her garage, well beyond any hope of repair. Aunt Sarah is a way better liar than Jamie. Even Aiden did not know about this plan.🚗
Is Noah French or Canadian maybe? Is he an immigrant or was he born in Ketterbridge?
Noah was born in Ketterbridge, but his dad is from and lives in France. Noah lived with him part-time until high school. He visited him after that, but stopped when he fell out with his whole family after he fell in with Ralph.
Will we ever see Jamie's bio dad or Aiden's parents?
These characters are in the past for both Aiden and Jamie, so we will not be seeing them in Soft Touch.
Are any of the characters or their personalities based off people you know in real life?
My characters are not based on people I know in real life, although they’re definitely influenced by them in a lot of little ways!
Was any plot twist or character arc influenced by our comments and guesses or did you already have everything figured out? Do you have an outline/set plot for Soft Touch? Do you already know how far along we are in the story or do you not know yet how it will finish?
I do already know what’s going to happen, and how Soft Touch is going to end. I’ve got the outline in my head! Also - I know that it’s long by this point, like, long. I really, really appreciate you all sticking with me through a story this length, and I hope you don’t mind that there’s a healthy amount still to come!😊
While the character arcs and the plot aren’t directly shaped by the comments, you all have so much more of an influence on me than you know. You’re the main source of my inspiration, and you’re what keeps me going every time I sit down to write.
I have your comments, emails, and messages screenshotted. I read them whenever I’m struggling with my self-confidence - so, all the time - and every time I do, I smile until my entire face hurts. I’ve got your art and some of your comments and emails up on my inspiration board. Sometimes I just sit there staring at it and overflowing with love. I know I haven’t been able to respond to as many emails and comments recently, just with my hands so full - but I hope you know that they do shape Soft Touch, because they have a huge, huge impact on me. I can’t even begin to put it into words.
Art in the middle by the lovely and talented Jeyncie Meyer.
Here’s a peek at my inspiration board, with one of the many pieces of your beautiful fan art pinned up. And this question leads me right into the next question, which is…
Will you try to publish Soft Touch?
Honestly, I had never even thought about actually trying to publish anything I’ve written. Before now, my system has been to just write a story until it’s finished, then delete it, because I was too self-conscious to let anyone read any of it. I did that with everything I’ve written before Soft Touch, except for one book, the working title of which is The Simon Story. I was reluctant to delete that one, because it took me three years to write and it’s particularly special to me. But even that one, I’ve only ever shown to one person, and that person had to work really hard to convince me not to delete it like I did with all the rest.
I always wanted to see one of my books published, but in no way did it ever strike me as a possible reality. Then I started writing and posting Soft Touch, and you all started leaving me such lovely, sweet comments and messages.
I’m now seriously thinking about trying to get Soft Touch into print by self-publishing it when I come to the end. That’s how much you all have changed the way I see my writing.💓 I still can’t believe some of the things y’all say about it. My heart melts every single time.
If there’s any way I can make it happen, you’ll all be the first to know, because you’re the ones who will have helped me get there, in no small way.💕
Okay - that’s it for the Q + A! Thank you again for sending in your questions! I love hearing what y’all are thinking about, and I had a lot of fun reading them! See you tomorrow for a new episode!
XOXO,
River
If you want to leave a comment about the Q + A, you can do so on the Tapas post!