Some who have read Raymond's story have asked about the locations in the story.

Have I been to all of them? How did I pick them? Why so many places?

The setting where a story takes place is as interesting as the characters in the story. Sometimes more so.

​If you deconstruct Raymond's story, you'll find that much of what happened to him could have taken place in Seattle, where the story begins. Shelly didn't have to be from Zimbabwe.

How boring would that be?

Different locations force characters to act differently, which makes writing about them easier and more enjoyable for me.

You're not the same person at home as you are on vacation. At home, you are (usually) comfortable, predictable, but on a train passing through East Germany from West Berlin...

Have I visited all the locations in Raymond's story, and the soon-to-be-released sequel, Shelly's story? No, many but not all of them. 

How did I pick them? Much research about those I haven't visited, and personal experience from those I have.

Why so many? To give everyone reading the story a shot at 'visiting' a place and time they've never been to. 

"Familiarity breeds contempt" may be a little harsh, but not when it comes to books you pay good money to read.

Discussions about unlived lives cause some to insist there is no such thing; we only live one life.

I get it; there's no proof that unlived lives are a thing. But it's also true there is no proof they aren't.

None of which matters to me. I'm just a guy who writes fiction books as though unlived lives are real.

​And now that we're on the subject, it occurs to me that saying we only live one life is not true. Take me, for instance.

• I was a paper boy, age 10 to 12.
• When I turned 13, I began a new life as a teenager.
• Age 19 to 21, a soldier.
• Overlapping that life, I began my being a husband life at 21.
• My college student life restarted for real at 21, as well.
• After college, age 25, I began my career life working in companies owned by others.
• At 35, I started my entrepreneurial life, founding a series of companies.
• Also at 35, my being a father life happened.
• At 65, my author life began.
• At 67 my being a grandfather life took off. 

Ten distinct lives, demanding that I meet the very different requirements of each of them. It's me throughout all of them, just a little different each time.

Kind of like frogs without the tail.

I frequently hear from people who see blog posts here and/or ads for Unlived Lives on Facebook and Instagram. (If yours is one of them, thank you for the interaction.) The overwhelming majority of what is said is positive.

There are patterns in the replies, some of which I've mentioned previously. With more than 2,000 responses to date, it's time for an update.

The question that gets the most reaction is:

"Given the option, would you visit lives you would have lived had you made different choices in the past?"

The largest categories of responses to that are:

1. "Yes, that would be interesting."
2. "No, I don't want to lose what I already have" (primarily referring to family).
3. "No, God controls my life; I can't do that."
4. "My life hasn't gone as I would have preferred."

​
Number 1 is the reaction I hoped for. Readers find Raymond's story, and soon, Shelly's, to be entertaining, causing them to think about their own past choices. 

Numbers 2 and 3 suggest they don't understand that they would only be "visiting", not giving up what they currently have.

You can only live one life, but you can think about those you would have lived had you made different choices.

If that's you, and you're not happy with what is, why not think about what might have been? Doing so might lead you to a better what could be.

Would you like to visit lives you would have lived had you made different choices in the past?

Did you ever have that feeling where you knew you could do a better job if you just took a little more time?

That was a big problem for me all through school. I'd tell myself I couldn't do my homework assignment any better, ignoring the little voice inside me telling me I could.

More often than not, that little voice was right, and so, too, (sigh 😐️) is it now with The Unlived Lives of Shelly Bennett.

I decided the manuscript was as good as I could make it; time to publish, no more edits! I would review the PDF one last time, approve it, send it back to Paula, and that would be that.

Until I got to page 20 this morning, seeing a lot of little things I could improve. 😑

Damn, you little voice! 😠

So it's back to Grammarly for one more (please, God, I'll be good, make it the 'last' 🙏) edit. That will take at least another two weeks, due to commitments all next week.

​Apologies to those of you waiting patiently for Shelly's story. I hoped to have it out sooner, but it now looks as though it will be the end of September, early October, better than it would be if I had ignored the little voice.