Friday Meet & Greet – Darian Wilk, author of Love Unfinished

Like most writers, I have been writing for most of my life, and I can’t recall the first time I decided to put pen to paper.  While growing up I viewed writing as my escape from the every day.  I used the power of written word to carry me away from the things I could not handle in my own world, and lift me into places I thought I might never reach with my own grasp.  But as I grew older I saw it as only that, an escape.  I never believed my dream of being a writer was attainable, I thought great things were what happened to other people, not the quiet wallflower like me.

My mom was my biggest cheerleader in all things I did, supporting me through every halfhearted attempt I made at being a grown up.  In 2007 she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer, and in late 2009 she was in the last six months of her life.  It was then I learned she had this secret list of things she had always wanted to do, and would never be able to check them off her list, and I went home that day with one of those eye opening experiences about life we’re lucky to get.  I realized life is too short to not do what your heart desires, no matter how unpractical the idea may seem to outsiders.  Because of her, because her life ended after only 52 years, I finally had the courage to proclaim myself a writer and started writing Love Unfinished.

The idea for Love Unfinished actually came to me in passing, empty thoughts, complaints really.  During a free writing exercise, my writing consisted of wondering why I always squeeze my pen so tightly, that I now had a blue smudge on my finger, that I should have used my laptop.  I wondered if technology was ruining us, making us speed through life without seeing it, if life was perhaps better when things were simpler, when you knew your mailman’s name, when eating dinner with the family came before checking your email.  And in a flash, a scene unveiled itself before me.  This sweet, young couple on their wedding day.  Many people think love is best when it’s in its prime, young, fresh, exciting.  And I wondered, what would happen if life ended when in that prime state of love, would it be strong enough to guide you to that person in another life?

When writing Love Unfinished, it was in discovering the characters voices that the story really came to life for me.  I realize not everyone can be perfect like me…ahem, excuse me, you can stop laughing now…I believe for characters to truly feel real, to be relatable, they have to have some fundamental flaw, something that makes them slightly scarred or carrying a little baggage like the rest of us.  And in the end, I think they all came through with their own voices and made the story their own.

Emma, she showed me her sweetness, how her longing for love lead her to a life of deceit and superficial marriage.  Her husband, Craig, became the misguided hero, the man who wanted to save the world and got lost in the allure of praise in the process.  And James, Emma’s love reincarnate, I never saw him as the perfect man, to swoop in and save the day without breaking a sweat.  Real men have baggage like the rest of us, his (after being on the receiving end of a Dr. John letter) was that he’s sworn off love forever. And of course there are the sub-characters, some who I just love to hate, whose flaws bring a certain flare to the story I never expected. 

I am in love with love, the rush of the first kiss, how your breath stutters being so close to that person, but one of the most interesting things for me about writing Love Unfinished was pushing the characters, testing how far people might stray from their beliefs or values for the sake of true love.  Would they cheat?  Would they break self-made vows? Would they lie?  Steal?  It surprised me sometimes what people are capable of.  It was an emotional journey the characters took me on to find love, and now it’s time for me to let them go and give them to readers.  As Ann Tyler said, “A story is finished when I can walk away and not wonder about the characters anymore.”  I no longer wonder about their love, they’ve told me their story, and I’m thrilled for the chance for them to tell it to you.  Thank you again Vicky, for this wonderful opportunity to be a guest on your blog!

 Darian’s novel, Love Unfinished  will be published on the 21st October. For further information about the author, please check out:
Darian’s website
Darian’s blog

For further information about the novel, click here to
Read the synopsis
Find it on Goodreads

Let me know what you thought of Darian’s post and keep an eye on Books, Biscuits & Tea because I’ll be reviewing Love Unfinished on my blog in the near future 😉
Darian, thank you so much for joining us this week!