Let's talk about Chris Enright....

🎉Let's have a Book Club Discussion! 🎉

I do really enjoy talking to others about my books and I've been hearing a lot about my Portrait series and have been focusing on Veil Falls that I don't often get a chance to discuss my duology. This is a series that my own mother likes, but has a difficult time "loving" because of one particular character. And then someone who finished my Portrait series picked up Along the Way to read and was rather upset about that same particular character.

So today I am going to bring up Chris Enright. 

Good ol Chris. He is one of the main characters in my Cedar Grove duology of Along the Way and Wherever It Goes. And apparently is my most hated character. Readers I talk to about the duology get that particular look of distaste on their face when they talk about Chris Enright.

Which got me wondering: is it possible to have a character who is so real, people emotionally respond to them?

Let's take care of some questions for you right off the bat -- 

No, Chris does not exist in real life.  I do not base my characters off of actual people I know or have known. (Past you are safe!)  I've not known anyone who is 100% like him. I'm sure his character is easy to identify in people we have known in the past and perhaps know in our lives right now, but nope. He is not based on anyone. He is a conglomerate of many "what-ifs" and my innocence of believing "Nobody would ever act this way in real life." Of course, decades later, it has become clear that, yes, people do behave like that. I will take behavior that I have seen randomly put it into books because no one owns human nature, tendencies, or psychology.

So, what is it about Chris Enright that makes people reading Along the Way and Wherever it Goes want to "twist his head off?"

The duology is a story about friendship, finding love, and accepting growth and change. It can also be a story about allowing that change and growth and not being stuck in the past. 

But Chris... Chris is that guy who peaked in college. Chris likes to be in control. Chris likes to be the puppet master. Chris wants to be what he is not and with the mindset he has, he will never be.

Now, you can look at Chris and see an outsiders view of the story, of the situation, and you can clearly see the writing on the wall. But when we look within ourselves, we have to admit that part of our emotional response may be because of your own experience in life. Perhaps you were once friends with a person like Chris. Or had a boss like him. Or a family member. Or even you once behaved like Chris and are now ashamed of it.

But the pure fact that you recognized it shows that you have learned. So let's now look at the people in Chris's life. Really he has it made. Seriously. He has a job he enjoys, a bright future with a woman who loves him unconditionally, friends who are there for him, including some life long best friends who are like brothers. 

But for some reason, he has blinders on as he has built his own little kingdom. 

And then Ryan comes home.

Ryan grew up as the only child in his generation. While most of us have siblings and cousins, even kids of cousins and cousins of cousins, Ryan did not. He did have a family who loved him immensely and Ryan never lacked for money. But Ryan wanted to be a regular kid. Not a rich kid. He wanted to be taken for who he truly was. And somewhere around junior high, insecurity and second guessing settled in and Chris decided to show him "the way." Since they were best friends since the age of 5, why wouldn't Ryan trust him?

Jealousy is a terrible thing, and Chris was jealous of Ryan’s position in life and Chris dealt with that jealousy by using shame. Within every person is two personas -- the one we show the world and the one we hide and protect. The one we show is the one we want people to like, it's forced, it's trained, and it's on auto pilot. The one we protect is who we are when nobody is looking. 

So when Ryan comes home to Cedar Grove for his family, he has become who he truly is and thrives in who he is. And he isn't going to fit into the role of who Chris had always cast him in.

And that is when Chris, who wants everyone to play the role he assigned them to for the sake of "that's how it's always been," realizes that Ryan is not going to follow the script Chris has maintained and Chris believes he knows Ryan’s weaknesses and how to get Ryan to tow the line. 

And that is when Chris Enright becomes the most despised character. 

I considered going back and revising the duology to make Chris less of someone whose head you wish to hold under water until the bubbles stop, but then, the story would change. And I can't do that to them. Along the Way and Wherever It Goes was meant to be the way it was written. Perhaps reading it with a different perspective and understanding you will be triggered by Chris, will give you some insight into yourself or possibly at least acceptance that some people are that way because they are just unwilling to grow. 

What are your thoughts about Chris? Have you seen something in him that differs? Please be sure to comment and let me know!

If you've read Along the Way and Wherever It Goes, please review it or rate it on the various venders' sites so other people know that it's a worth while read. Reviews and ratings help not only let others know about the book but also trigger the retailer's algorithms to recommend the book to potential readers. It helps immensely!!

And there you have it. Until next time, keep reading to stay sane during this upcoming holiday season!!! And remember, if you enjoyed my books, your reading friends will too! Books make excellent gifts!

You can find all of my books online at www.amazon.com/author/embrooks, at barnesandnoble.com, and on Apple Books! They are available in eBook, paperback, and hardcover! You can find The Allegheny Chronicles: Eden & the Alchemist and Could've Been Something in paperback at the Made in Amador store in Sutter Creek, CA on Main Street through Christmas of 2023! Please tell your favorite Barnes and Noble brick and mortar locations to carry all of my books in paperback so you can find them there too!

Have a great weekend!!