Let's turn back the clock a little bit to November of 2020. I had been thinking about this story for a long time, and I finally decided to work on it for NaNoWriMo. Back then, it wasn't The Line Between Us. It was called After You. I never liked the name of it, so I knew it wouldn't be the final title. But I had this story in my head about a perfectionist named Summer whose whole life came crashing down after the death of her estranged father.

At the time, I was living with my own father, who had suffered a severe stroke in 2017. My dad was amazing, but he could also be very emotionally abusive. And his stroke made everything worse. So I was living in this very dark space, and I felt like I needed to process everything I was going through. As always, I use writing as a form of therapy, and this story was no different.

I was watching a show called Dexter at the time, and had just been introduced to the character Lumen. Knowing her name meant light, I thought it would be cute to name a character Summer Lumen (Summer Light). I also loved the idea of the main love interest calling her Lumenescent. Because come on. How cute is that, right?

I was also working in data entry at the time and stumbled across the name Baker. It was a last name, but I was intrigued by the idea of a last name as a first name. And I thought Baker Scott had a nice ring to it. And thus, the love interest for Summer was born. Broken and hurt on the inside, outside he was a protective teddy bear. Also a different kind of character. A jock, but quiet. Studious. Top of the class. And I have to say, he was very fun to write.

Now here's where it gets interesting. Originally, he was supposed to die. I've never had a love interest die before, and I thought it would be a challenge for me. But the thing is... I fell in love with him too. And the closer I got to the end of the book, the harder it was for me to imagine him dying. So I saved him, but at the cost of the one person he was trying to protect: his little brother, Ian.

Ian was originally a bit character. Someone you knew only because Baker talked about him. There were no scenes with him. Summer had no relationship with him. But when he was killed by their father at the end, Baker was completely gutted. The story ended with Summer and Baker going to college together, getting married, and naming their son after his brother. And I put it away for years, hating the ending and deciding that I owuld never share it with anyone.

Until last year, when the characters popped back into my head. So I went back and reevaluated what I had, and discovered... okay, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Just needed to tweak a few things. Add some chapters. No big deal. But that ending... I don't know what the hell I was thinking back in 2020. Killing the brother? No. So I toyed around with the idea of Baker dying again, thinking that was the only way.

Then, on a birthday trip to my favorite place last fall, I considered something new. What if... what if the dad died? What if the little brother accidentally killed the father to protect the one who was protecting him? It would be an act of brotherly love for sure. And it was the only ending that made sense in my head. So... I went with it. I added an extra 140,000 words (I know). Fleshed Ian's character out a bit more. And viola... it was ready.

Jay Scott got his name from A Touch of Cinnamon. If you read it, you know (spoilers) that Gen was mugged by a guy named J. Yes, there is a connection there. So the mugger in Gen's story got what was coming to him. Don't worry.

I also wrote a couple sex scenes for this story. Minor. Not graphic. But a friend of mine convinced me to remove them, because in her opinion they took away from the feeling of the story. She was right, of course. I removed them, did some rewriting, and here we are. Finally. Congrats, you guys. We made it.

But we aren't finished yet. There's more coming, and I can't wait to share it with you in the Sneak Peek. Let me know your thoughts on what's next. I can't wait to come back to these characters. But I'm going to let them sit for a while so I can simmer. Plan. Because I don't like going into a story without a solid plan. It never works out for me in the end.

I hope you all liked reading this story as much as I liked writing it. I'll be back to finish Vale's story soon, and then I'll be posting chapters of Just Because, which I teased last night. Stay safe and healthy until then, my dears!
XOXO,
~Aly