With Special Thanks to Jane Cleland

by Lynn Slaughter

Several years ago, I took a wonderful workshop from Jane Cleland. She asked us writers to write a sentence or two about what our novels were about. Since most of us were mystery and/or suspense writers, our descriptions usually had to do with a suspicious death, perhaps someone being threatened, and an investigation. I don’t recall what novel I was working on at the time, but I have been thinking a lot about this question in relation to my novel, It Should Have Been You. So, what’s it about?  Here’s my two-sentence description: “In the wake of her piano prodigy twin’s murder, seventeen-year-old Clara begins receiving threatening emails, the first of which says, ‘It Should Have Been You…but soon.’ Convinced that her email stalker blames her for her sister’s death, she launches her own investigation.” 

 

After we’d written our descriptions like this one about our novels, Jane asked us a follow-up question: “Yes, but what is your novel really about?” In asking this question, she was encouraging us to dig deeper into the underlying themes and issues addressed by our work. 

So, what is It Should Have Been You really about? It’s about the impact on a young woman’s sense of self when she grows up in a family whose dynamics were unhealthy long before being overwhelmed by grief over the loss of a child. Clara’s twin Moura was the undisputed star in her musician parents’ universe, and Clara was more or less an afterthought in their lives. Even Moura discounted Clara and was unfriendly toward her twin. Following Moura’s murder, their devastated mother cannot even stand to look at Clara because she reminds her too much of the daughter she lost.

 

Beyond the threats to her life and her own survivor’s guilt, these are heavy burdens for Clara to bear. Ultimately, she not only uncovers the identity of her sister’s murderer and that of her stalker, but she finds hope and acceptance in an intentional community of friends and trusted adults outside her immediate family.

I confess that family issues have long been a preoccupation of mine, stemming from my own experiences, the experiences my students have shared with me, and my graduate studies in sociology. The impact of family dynamics hasn’t just shown up in my young adult novels but in my adult novels as well. In Missed Cue, for example, homicide detective Caitlin O’Connor keeps getting involved with married men, even though she knows it’s wrong. Once in therapy, she finally figures out that she’s internalized the messages of the police chief father she idolized. The successful career women he admired avoided marriage and family, he told her repeatedly. By limiting her relationships to those with married men, she has managed to avoid the commitments her dad warned her against. Recognition of the powerful impact of her dad’s dictums ultimately helps her break the pattern in her personal life.

 

Looking back, I’m so glad I took Jane’s workshop. She made me really think about what matters to me personally and what matters to my characters. Moreover, I strongly believe that digging deeper into the themes and topics of our novels strengthens our work and helps us grow as writers.

BIO

Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, she returned to school to earn her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her young adult and adult novels have received numerous accolades, including an Imadjinn Award, Silver Falchion Award, two Agatha nominations, and a Moonbeam Silver Medal. This has been an exciting year for Lynn. Death in the End Zone, a sequel to Missed Cue, was released in May, as was her debut middle grade novel, The Big Switch: Varney and Cedric. In September, her young adult novel, It Should Have been You, was re-released by White City Press. 

 

Lynn loves hearing from readers and can be reached on her website at:

https://lynnslaughter.com