As I was driving to Little Rock yesterday morning to take my wife in for a “pre-colonoscopy consult,” I listened to a fascinating program on the Diane Rehm show on NPR. Diane and her guests were discussing a book, Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng. In spite of repeated suggestions that people who had not yet read the book should turn down the volume, I listened. I’ve not read the book. But now, I must!
As I listened to the plot and the intricate paths the author took with the story line, I became more and more enchanted with the writer and her writing. I decided I have to read the book. Part of that enchantment and desire to read it emanates from a storyline I have contemplated for months: a young black man, an adoptee to a progressive young white couple, confronts the reality of race and bigotry, just as does his sister, an Hispanic child only a couple of years older. There are other characters. They may be unnecessary. But I cannot let the book die just because another one with a backwards plot might be in the running.
I may have finally outlined the basics of a novel I may one day write. Or maybe not. I cannot be trusted to finish things I start.
Do it.