The Truth

Jo Knowles just blogged at engchat about a topic that's been on my mind since Try Not to Breathe came out--since before it came out, actually. Even though people know that novelists are writing fiction, i.e., stories that are not literally true, we seem to have a great hunger to know how much of a novel is based on true-life experience. As a reader, I know that hunger; I've felt it myself. We ask questions such as, This person who writes about the Gobi desert so evocatively ... has she ever really been there? And Jo points out another reason readers may be curious: because if the book tells the story of a problem they've lived through, they feel a connection with the teller of that story and want to know, Can I trust this connection? Is it real?

Try Not to Breathe is the story of a boy's recovery from a suicide attempt, and his friendship with a girl who is seeking answers about her father's suicide. It is not my--or anyone's--literal life story. But the book was informed by my experiences living in this world, as well as by research. I made every word of the book as true and authentic as I could. Not at the surface level, with biographical facts about real people. But true on a deeper level. I used imaginary characters and an invented plotline to convey things I know and feel to be true, emotionally true, about life.

I suspect that some people who find this book may read it because they are thinking about, or have thought about, suicide. And I urge anyone thinking that way to reach out for help, at once. (One source of help:  National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK).)

For me, Try Not to Breathe is more about life and hope than anything else. That's the reality.