The Story in Your Eyes
by J.D. Lorien
Released: Apr 05, 2023
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Why this book and why now?
When the pandemic started, my distraction of choice was to dive head-first into lesbian fiction, and especially romance, in a way that for whatever reason I never really had before, at least on that scale. I found library apps, Kindle Unlimited, Audible, and I absolutely binged through probably hundreds of books overall. Every genre I could find. And it reignited a passion for writing that I had when I was younger. I told myself I would start writing something every day and see what came of it. Ultimately, this book was the end result. It touched on a lot of things I was learning about myself, a lot of struggles with isolation and connection. And a lot of issues that had been brought into my thoughts by all the reading I was doing. It’s been a very cathartic process for me. And hopefully opened the floodgates to other stories I want to tell!
What is a significant way your book has changed since either the first draft or the way you thought it would turn out when you first had the inspiration?
When I first started writing, I wasn’t sure which character it was going to be about. There are two other characters in this book that might have been the main character, and they would have had totally different relationships. I tried to include those other characters in minor roles through the story. But Lyssa was the one whose story really seemed engage all of my creativity and imagination, and so she was the one I ultimately focused this story on. I may wind up telling the other characters stories someday as well, but I wanted this book to be self-contained as far as being focused on Lyssa and Greer and their journey through learning to connect and communicate with each other.
What TV show would your main character(s) most likely binge watch and why?
Lyssa is very much into animation, so I think she would binge shows like She-Ra and Arcane. Both because of the quality of engaging storytelling, but she would relate to Vi and her struggles with her little sister. And she would love the humor, snark and creativity of She-Ra.
One of your main characters is planning a romantic night. Tell us about it. What do they do?
Since the book takes place in lockdown, Lyssa would try to make it a special night, where she made something homemade, completely from scratch, because Greer is always buying any kind of food she thinks Lyssa might want. And then she would open up Spotify to play Greer’s favorite music so they could dance around and lip sync together and just be happy they’ve reached a point where they would be comfortable really just cutting loose together and having fun with no reservations. And then they’d probably go upstairs and check a few items off a certain Venn Diagram of sexual activities they made together.
Publishing a book is a huge accomplishment and it’s time to party! Choose a celebratory beverage for one of your main characters to toast the release of your new book!
Lyssa used to be a bartender, so she’d probably want to show off her cocktail-making prowess. She’d make everyone else their drink of choice, and then just drink her own grape-flavored water. Because she’s got a lot of food sensitivities and it’s her comfort beverage of choice.
