So I finally kept something secret. Kind of. The little hint with the pink flamingo…yeah. That’s the Cletus stories.
But, considering I can’t keep a secret, I think I did pretty good about not letting on what was happening.
Originally, I intended to have three or four complete volumes to release all at once, but they took a minute longer than I expected. So, you only get the first two. But three is on its way.
Here’s the thing. Those of you who have followed me from the beginning know how I write. It’s all seat of the pants. In order to create, I have to have a general idea of the story, the beginning and an end point. The rest? Well, it’s like life. You’re born, you die, and whatever happens in the middle is the surprise. It’s the same way with my writing. I’ve had people email me and say, “Whoa! I never saw that coming!” and I’m like, I know, right?? The story tells itself and I see it like a movie in my head. Thankfully, my head runs a little slow and my typing a little fast so it’s a cool coincidence that they mesh. I simply type what my mind sees.
But here’s the deal. Originally…the girl that saves Cletus…his love interest, is a trans.
I’m gonna let that one soak in a bit.
I didn’t plan it. It wasn’t to make some kind of political statement. It wasn’t to be ‘woke’. That’s just the way the story unfolded. And I was okay with it. That little bit made for some hilarious dialogue. Cletus, being Cletus, had no idea what that was. Originally, when he found it, he was like, “You can’t help it you was born with a dingaling. It’s like having brown eyes. You had no control over it.”
And it was cool having new territory to explore and the reactions of a simple-minded feller.
But then I started to worry. Would it be taken ‘wrong’? Would my readers understand that it wasn’t intentional and it wasn’t for any ulterior motive? Would the alphabet group feel I was trying to exploit something? So I did what anybody else would do and took it to my peers. Although the group is made mostly of ex-military and law enforcement types, they were like, ‘if that’s the way the story told itself, run with it’. No judgement. No jokes. My editor thought that if it was done tastefully (pfft, like I can do that! LOL). My publisher was like…mmm…I dunno.
Long story short, I caved. I went back through the story and changed it. She was born a girl and will die a girl. Or live. Or…whatever. No spoilers here. But that took a while because I was easily two-thirds of the way through the first book when I decided to do that. And, unfortunately, it lost a LOT of the humor in doing so. Still, I really feel it was a safer bet to lose the humor and stick with something a little more…vanilla.
Still, I think Cletus just might resonate with more people than not. I mean, who among us haven’t felt like a simpleton from time to time? And a redneck simpleton is a lot more relatable for me because…well, I am one. Write what you know, right?
Anywho, there it is. The story behind what almost was.
I hope you’ll give Cletus a chance. And I really hope you like it. It’s probably a lot less comedy and more awkward situations, but if nothing else, I enjoyed writing it.
With that said, I will leave you to it.
Here’s wishing you much love, luck and bacon!
Heath
