B0092XNA2Q EBOK (37 page)
Authors: Charles Martin
The Author Answers the Discussion Questions
1.
Why do you think the title of the book is Unwritten? In what ways is that theme conveyed in the book?
Peter answers this far better than I in his letter to Katie on
here
. I can’t say it any better than that.
2.
Shortly after meeting Peter, Katie confesses to Steady, “I don’t like the way I treat people.” Why do you think she behaves the way she does? Is her behavior justified?
I think she’s in pain. Justified? No, but that’s not the point. She doesn’t like it any more than we do. One of the things I love about both Steady and Peter is that they don’t try to fix the symptom—the behavior. They’re looking at the cause. The root. They realize that the water in Katie Quinn’s glass is poisoned and that occurred long before it entered the glass. So they follow the pipes, walk upstream, and pull the lid off the well where the spring is bubbling up. One of the two clicks on a flashlight and that’s where they find the bodies. Deal with the
bodies and the water downstream will take care of itself. I have found this to be true not only in the lives of the characters I create, but my own life and the lives of those I love.
3.
Why would Steady believe that Peter and Katie are more capable of helping each other than he is of helping either of them?
Steady understands the nature of the pain Katie and Peter are living and knows that each can speak to the brokenness in the other. Did I “know” all this when I wrote this book? Did I outline all this in sequential multicolored drafts pinned to the walls of my office and then work it into my story with a complete ontological and epistemological understanding of all the emotional complexities playing out between the pages? No. Not by a long shot. I wrote a love story about two messed-up people trying to walk down the painful road from broken to not broken, and now that you’re asking me, I’m scratching my head and giving you my best guess. And that best guess is this story you hold. I’m attempting—after the fact—to dissect the whole and describe the intricacy of the pieces. Tough to do and I’m not very good at it. This is one of the beauties of Story—it answers questions that my intellect can’t really wrap its hands around. And yet the answer satisfies and resonates as true. Funny how that works.
4.
Do you think Peter did the right thing in helping Katie through door number three?
On this side of it, Peter would say no, but let’s don’t second guess what he didn’t know at the time. He had to walk it out with her. Seemed like a good idea at the time. For the record, I agree with Peter so I’d have done the same. Also, you need to know that sometimes readers ask me questions that I can’t begin to answer. I’m a writer. Not a psychiatrist with a couch. These pages are
where I work out the stuff that’s nagging me. Remember what I said above about “knowing” all this. Same truth applies here. Sometimes I’m discovering as much about my characters in the writing as you are in the reading. They make me laugh and cry, too. I find people are surprised at this. They ask, “You cried?” Like a baby. The human heart is pretty good at spotting counterfeits. If I’m not moved, then how will my story move you?
5.
Were Katie’s fans truly mourning her after her death? Is the act of mourning about the person lost, or the person who is mourning?
Not sure I’m qualified to answer this. Let me try… In my experience, I’ve both mourned the person who’s passed and I’ve mourned my interaction with them—or what they gave me. Just being honest. Last Saturday, I was at a race for my son. At the starting line, they played the National Anthem. I stood there listening while that perfect, angelic voice rose up out of those speakers. Halfway through, I found myself thinking,
Has this ever been performed any better?
As the recording finished, I realized how the absence of Whitney Houston still stings. How I miss her voice. I’m not sure I can describe what I miss about it other than I do. I miss what it does on my insides and the hope that she might be around to do it again. Is that selfish? Maybe, but we lost a great one in her and I’d be willing to bet I’m not alone in this. I just know that when that song finished, I missed something pure, good, and beautiful and the absence of it hurt. I imagine that those fans in the Gulf mourning the loss of Katie felt the same.
6.
In what ways are Peter and Katie similar? How does it impact their relationship?
Both are uniquely gifted. Both drink life emotively. They “feel” deeply… intensely. It’s how they’re able to do what they do and resonate with so many. That trait amplifies both their joy and their pain. And… it’s common among artists.
7.
Why do you think Katie had so many disguises? Were they a help to her or a hindrance?
Anything that masks our true identity is probably a hindrance. Matter of fact, that might be a pretty good definition. Although in Katie’s defense, she had lost all anonymity, so I think it’s tough for anyone to understand that phenomenon who hasn’t walked it. Myself included. Think about somebody like Will Smith, Tom Hanks, Oprah, or name your icon. Those people—and they’re just normal people like you and me who eat, sleep, and laugh—can’t go anywhere without folks like you and me hammering them ’cause we think we know them from their movies and because we love to touch our idols. In truth, we don’t know squat. I’d be willing to bet most would pay—and probably do—a good bit to
not
be known. For anonymity and some sense of normalcy. I would. Kind of makes you wonder how many superstars are lonely. In Katie’s case, there’s a difference between masking her face and masking her heart. One is simply an outward reflection of an inward condition. It’s the reason the scene at Steady’s church on Easter Sunday is so powerful to me. Without giving away too much to those who haven’t read it, let me say this—Katie can only do what she does there because she’s already done that with the one on the inside.
8.
In what ways is Katie influenced by the opinion of society throughout her life? How has it shaped who she is?
Others’ opinions of her hasn’t shaped her nearly as much as her own. While others’ are painful and sting, it’s her own that hangs the rope around her neck.
9.
Peter stops writing after he loses Jody, even though there are many children who love his stories. Why is that? Was it really about Jody?
I’m not sure. I just know that when I closed my eyes and put myself in his shoes, the all-encompassing pain that had
become his life was enough to put him in the front seat of that southbound Mercedes. And then keep him there. I know that.
10.
Discuss the theme of forgiveness in the novel.
11.
In what ways does Katie help Peter?
I spent nearly a week writing the last page of this book. No kidding, five days focused on somewhere around four hundred words. I rewrote it twenty, thirty, forty times. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful pictures I’ve ever scripted depicting the interaction between two people. And it’s a pretty good answer to your question. Katie hands her bag of broken pieces to Peter and for the first time in a long time, the bleeding stops—and he starts to heal. As strange as it sounds, broken people are fixed by other broken people. It’s God’s economy. It’s why soldiers who carried stretchers across the Bulge scribble beneath benches and become priests whose hands are stained.
12.
What do you think would have happened to Katie and Peter if Steady had not pushed them together? Could they have healed on their own?
Don’t know. I didn’t write that story. In truth, I have no idea. “Healing” for you may look a bit different than “healing” for me, so I want to be careful I don’t put it in a box of “it must look like this.” I just know both Katie and Peter had Steady, or maybe Steady had them. Either way, I’m glad they did. Steady is one of my narrative treasures. I love him. If and when this thing is made into a movie, it will be fun to see who is tagged to play him. What a role. And no, I don’t have anyone in mind. I don’t see my characters that way, but it would be fun to play that mental game and see who we all came up with. Whoever he is, I hope he nails it and I’ll be pulling for him.
Thunder and Rain
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THE AUTHOR ANSWERS THE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Correspondence from John Dyson reproduced by permission from his estate.
Copyright © 2013 by Charles Martin
“Doc Snakeoil” Copyright © 2013 by Charles Martin
Reading Group Guide Copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-0394-0