When I was redoing my necklace/bracelets, I texted Lynne a group of charms I was going to put on one bracelet and said, “Bet you’d never guess the theme of this bracelet. And it ain’t Texas.”
She answered, “It might ‘rust.'”
She was referencing one of the four main characters in my second unpublished novel, and I had been sure she would say, “the second book.”
However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Rusty is possibly one of the most vivid and dominating characters I’ve written because she is so full of contradictions. In a book balanced with three other major characters, which also includes two VERY strong characters who don’t even have POVs in this novel, she has to have a really strong voice to hold her own.
She is at once fragile but unbreakable, teeming with emotional conflict but very sure of who and what she loves, mystical and yet able to cut right through the bullshit to the bare bones of an experience.
I realized how strong her voice is when I found this journal. It was an accidental find–I was actually looking for notes on my first unpublished novel.
Every page contains songs Rusty wrote. I am not a songwriter, but it doesn’t matter. Rusty’s songs gave me instant recall of the journey she takes in that novel though I haven’t read it for many years.
If wishes could come true, my late friend Riley would be here with me, because I know he could turn these songs into something special, both by extracting only the lyrics he wanted then by putting music to them. He may be the only person I’d be brave enough to hand this flood-damaged book to and say, “Please make magic for me.”
I’ve never been as courageous as Rusty–probably why I needed to write her.
