However, a friend suggested that instead of trying to set it in America, why not leave it as a story that is transient of time and place. Not once did I ever mention a town name or city or country. Partly because Ren himself wouldn’t know or care as child, but also because I wanted the reader to place Ren and Della wherever they were or even imagine a fictional world of their choosing.
It could be set in Canada, England, Scotland, USA or New Zealand. It could fit anywhere and I liked that.
However, the amazing Will Watt and Hayden Bishop (fully within their creative license) decided—when they started narration for The Boy & His Ribbon—that the characters could possibly be from South USA and gave them accents to match. As we hadn’t discussed my concept of it being a very ‘country neutral’ book, once I heard the audio, I realised I’d have to explain why there are some English Phrases spoken in an American accent.
As the Audio was already recorded for The Boy & His Ribbon, it’s not possible to go back and edit certain English colloquialisms without disrupting the Whispersync capability.
So, I decided to leave The Girl & Her Ren in the same manner so the ‘voice’ doesn’t sound different.
I hope you can excuse the blend of two worlds and enjoy the story regardless.
WHAT RESEARCH DID YOU DO FOR THIS STORY?
A lot on Asbestos related illnesses and forced child labour.
For anyone dealing with mesothelioma or know someone who is, I did my best to research and include realistic treatment options and terminology. As all things, there is only so much information available and I apologise if I incorrectly quoted facts.
A few links that were used are:
https://www.asbestos.com/cancer/
https://www.asbestos.com/treatment/
https://www.pleuralmesothelioma.com/cancer/prognosis/
https://www.keytruda.com/
https://www.rxwiki.com/keytruda
Ren’s purchase to work a farm isn’t that far-fetched and there have been many documented issues of child labour around the globe, in both first world and third world countries.
These are just a few:
http://www.fao.org/childlabouragriculture/en/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/17/child-farmworkers-united-states-worst-form-child-labor
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-and-marc-kielburger/child-labour-is-canadas-i_b_1087892.html
UPCOMING BOOKS 2018
The Body Painter
The Argument
For more up to date announcements and releases please visit:
www.pepperwinters.com
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OTHER BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM PEPPER WINTERS
Ribbon Duet
The Boy & His Ribbon
The Girl & Her Ren
Dollar Series
Pennies
Dollars
Hundreds
Thousands
Millions
Truth & Lies Duet
Crown of Lies
Throne of Truth
Pure Corruption Duet
Ruin & Rule
Sin & Suffer
Indebted Series
Debt Inheritance
First Debt
Second Debt
Third Debt
Final Debt
Indebted Epilogue
Monsters in the Dark Trilogy
Tears of Tess
Quintessentially Q
Twisted Together
Je Suis a Toi
Standalones
Destroyed
Unseen Messages
Can’t Touch This
PLAYLIST
John Legend – Love Me Now
Selena Gomez & Marshmello – Wolves
Pink – What About Us
Selena Gomez - Back To You
Imagine Dragons - Nothing Left To Say
Imagine Dragons - Not Today
All of the Stars - Ed Sheeran
Charlie Puth - Kiss Me
Lana Del Rey – I still love him
Nothing Like Us - Justin Beiber
Calum Scott - If Our Love Is Wrong
Tom Odell - Grow Old with Me
I Found You - Kina Grannis & Imaginary Future
Calum Scott, Leona Lewis - You Are The Reason
Behind Blue Eyes – Limp Bizkit
Photograph – Ed Sheeran
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Boy & His Ribbon was the easiest book I’ve ever written.
The Girl & Her Ren was the hardest.
As mentioned in the ‘Note to the Reader,’ I always knew Ren’s fate the moment he popped into my head and first told me his story, but it didn’t mean I was comfortable with it, or brave enough to go through with it.
Almost daily, I’d message beta readers asking if I was doing the right thing. And every night, I’d wake in a panic wondering how this duet would be received.
However, I had no choice to do the ending Ren intended.
This was never a romance.
It was a life story, and with life comes death—just like Della said.
Saying that, I leaned on beta readers very heavily in this book. I think I wrote close to 210,000 words and ended up deleting 55,000 of them.
Entire scenes were axed. Entire plot points erased. It wasn’t easy, but I hope it’s made a better book for being ruthless.
I want to thank my husband for allowing me to sit on my butt for twelve hours a day to finish this—it’s been two months of relying on him to feed the horses, cook, and clean. He’s a rock star.
I want to thank Heather Pollock for being invaluable with her advice and being online at all hours of the day to read chapters and keep me from jumping off the cliff.
I want to thank Melissa Crump for being so diligent, kind, and helpful and incredibly fast in her feedback.
I want to think Tamicka Birch for giving me her honest opinion when I ruined the book and told her the ending and made her read the epilogue first.
I want to thank Melissa Staley, Vickie Leaf, Rochelle Kroesen, Yaya, Julie Lis, Heather Peiffer, Nicole Hartney, and Chanpreet Singh for their invaluable, kind critique.
I want to thank Jenny Sims and Tiffany Landers for their editing / proofreading, and for turning it around so fast.
I want to thank Will Watt and Hayden Bishop for narrating such excellent audio and making me fall in love with my characters even more.
I want to thank Nina Grinstead and the girls at Social Butterfly for helping with promo.
And finally, but most importantly, I want to thank you, the reader, for allowing me to hurt you with this story.
I hope you enjoyed it, despite the pain.
Xx00xx
Pepper