project; aubrey

This is your formal introduction to Project Aubrey. Welcome, and hang on tight!

[TITLE]

I don't have a working title for this book, so until further notice, it'll go by Project Aubrey. If anyone has any bids on a title, do let me know. I really am rubbish at titles.

[SYNOPSIS]

When her mother abandons her on a whim, 16-year-old Aubrey Evans is shipped back to the town of her birth to live with the only family she has left. A cold bed, a podunk town, no friends—she's had all of it before; but now she has to settle with the fact that the people actually know her here—and know the conditions under which she left so suddenly eight years ago.

If you're looking for a lovely, capable, and sassy young heroine who discovers the strength was in her all along; if you're hoping to be swept up in a thrilling romance with a tall, dark and charming billionaire/vampire/werewolf/surgeon; if you’re just so different and weird and nobody could possibly understand you (except this super-hot-but-also-incredibly-insightful-and- deep guy/girl/beast/fairy/alien) . . . Well, this book may not be for you.

This isn’t a fairytale, a safe place to play pretend. This isn’t a book to escape. This is a book to expose, to exhume—to uncover all the little dreads in your heart so you can say, “Ah, there you are, my little devil. I’ve found you at last. Get the fuck outta here.”

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

Is this autobiographical? No. Are there glaring similarities to my life and the people in it? Yes. I believe every piece of Work an Artist makes is a microcosm of their life story. In that frame, this is, in many ways, a version of my story—but also nothing at all like it. Like so many of my works, this is an expansion of a dream I once had, and it highlights many themes in my life: shame, isolation, self-preservation, self-worth and image, and many more. All recurring themes.

For those close to me: some characters may sound a little too familiar. All creations are in fact a work of fiction, though I'll admit to many real-life inspirations. After all, the people we know and love, while they reside in our heads, are largely fictional to us; they are our understanding of the real-life person, but just as we "understand" a character we read about, they are neither independently willful nor malleable to us.

All that to say, this story is entirely fictional, and certainly not biographical, and should be read as such, without comparison or assumption.

[INSPIRATIONS]

If you like any of the following books, you may like this one. And vice versa.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Stephen Chbosky
Speak; Laurie Halse Anderson
Pizza Girl; Jean Kyong Frazier
We Are Okay; Nina Simone

[PLAYLIST]

Self-Esteem; The Offspring
Where Boys Fear to Tread; Smashing Pumpkins
Creep; Radiohead
Thirty-Three; Smashing Pumpkins
Invisible Man; The Breeders
Distance Equals Rate Times Time; Pixies
Video Killed the Radio Star; The Buggles
High and Dry; Radiohead
Come On Eileen; Dexys Midnight Runners
Father Christmas; The Kinks
I'm Begging You; The Stone Roses
Do You Love Me Now?; The Breeders
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me; The Smiths
Tonight, Tonight; Smashing Pumpkins
SOS; Abba
I Will Be Right Here Waiting For You; Richard Marx
Strange Magic; Electric Light Orchestra
To Forgive; Smashing Pumpkins
Stay With Me; Faces
Aubrey; Bread

. . . and more found here

[CONTENT WARNING]

My works do not contain any explicit content, however, due to the mature themes of this piece, it is inappropriate for people under 16 years old. A list of themes and triggers are listed below. Please read responsibly.

[CHAPTER LIST]

• Prelude
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three

Stay tuned for more!