Today we talk about Farewell Wendy, a book by Michele J. Dulay published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Michele J. Dulay, to get to know her better, what was the moment that led her to the writing of her book Farewell Wendy, as well as how much of her self she sees in the protagonist of her story.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Is there a particular moment in your life that led you to the writing of your book? What is it?
I was in my sophomore year of college and I had taken a fiction writing course, for my final project we were given the opportunity to write a story about anything that had moved us and recreate it. My particular story was the tale of Peter Pan. My father always had us watching the movie when I was a child and I can vividly remember playing Tinker Bell as a child and pretending to fly around my room. When I was writing my version of the story, I felt it was more important to gift Wendy the voice she didn’t exactly have in the original storyline. I wanted to make it clear how toxic Peter actually was to her and the way that he pulled her in as if it was a second nature to him.
- What are the messages you wanted to send out with your book?
The main message that I wanted to focus on when I was writing was the simple concept of if you do not feel heard, I hear you. I don’t remember a moment in my life where I wasn’t struggling with depression and anxiety and I felt like a normal person who belonged in an everyday life atmosphere. And I have done everything that you can simply begin to think of to try to make it go away even for a split moment but it will always be part of you. Something that I struggled with in my teens was the idea of understanding that just because I feel these things does not mean that I am still unloved, it just means that I love differently and I receive the feeling of love differently. And that’s okay. Your emotions have and they always will be valid. I don’t want anything from this book but for someone to open it up and read it and feel some sort of comfort in knowing that they aren’t the only ones that feel what they feel. Because that can be hard to remember when your world feels as if it is burning to the ground.
- How much of you is there in the protagonist of the novel?
I am Wendy in all of the parts where she feels confused and misunderstood. I am Wendy in all of the moments where she felt like she was doing everything right but when it came down to it, she just couldn’t make everyone happy and that drove her mad. Wendy is a complicated girl. She struggles with understanding what she feels and there are moments when she physically does not feel as if she is attached to her body and that’s where you will find me. I am (was) that young girl who was in a manipulative relationship and let it eat the best parts of her.
- How did it feel to see your book published?
Honestly? Absolutely insane. I still get so confused when people ask me about the updates of how it is going. I also think I am just having a hard time processing that something I have created and wrote and spent so many years with is out there in the world to be shared with others. I have always been so private with my work so the idea that we even made it here is mind blowing.
- Are you planning to write more books?
I absolutely have already started writing a storyboard of what I imagine the second book to look like. I think I want to take the dynamic in a more emotional attachment to the concept of family and shy more away from the manipulative love standpoint. But I am writing!
Europe Books thanks the author Michele J. Dulay once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Farewell Wendy. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my dear reader, I wish that this book thrills you and touches you to the point that allows you to understand the importance and the uniqueness and importance of your emotions!
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy this touching reading!
Your editor!