After the Sunset (Not) Blog Tour

Part 2 of Interviewing Myself About My Own Book

Ezra’s story is so sad…

Ugh I know. What the heck, self.

But then, maybe it isn’t.

Within the little sweet little story that is After the Sunset is the sad little story of the man who left the farm to Ty and Caleb. What’s clear is that Ezra was probably lonely, faced a lot of trauma in his life and had some trouble letting things go, and felt a strong, if odd, connection to Caleb and Ty. I didn’t have a lot time or space to explore Ezra’s story in depth, but I hope that there’s enough to take away from it that his life may have been small, and his love story short, yet they still happened and they still meant something.

I borrowed the idea from Leaves of Grass (yes, I’m talking about Walt Whitman again) that the actor on stage in front of thousands and the farmer tilling his field all alone both matter the exact same amount, both exist in the same meaningful way, both are part of the same play. I think most authors can relate to feeling the urgency of wanting to make it big, even that’s not the reason we write, of course. A part of me will always want that big story that everyone reads and loves. But the lesson for Ty and Caleb in the this book, and the lesson I was working through for myself, is that smaller stories still matter. It still exists, it still means something to someone, and that’s enough. Caleb was in a movie that he assumed was a flop that no one understood, and Ty played roles that he though were forgettable and insignificant. Yet, they clearly meant a whole lot to Ezra.

So ultimately, I don’t think Ezra’s story is sad. He found love in a place and time when it must have seemed impossible. He found happiness in quiet ways. He founds ways to connect to other people, even if they were fictional. He lived a small life that still mattered.  

After the Sunset is now available at Interlude Press | Amazon | Smashwords |  iTunes and other ebook retailers