Last night I read excerpts from my second novel, The Buddha’s Bone, at the Purely Poetry event in the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast. Although a novel, my main character Kimberly expresses her darkest feelings during her journey in Japan through poetry.
The novel looks at many serious topics, although protagonist Kimberly tends to use her poetry as an outlet for her depression and sense of loneliness and isolation as she goes on a journey of self-discovery. I wrote the poems in Kimberly’s voice rather than my own style as a poet.
Some of my Advance Review Copy (ARC) readers in fact enjoyed Kimberly’s poetry so much that they commented in the Goodreads and Amazon reviews that my main character’s poems were among their favourite parts of the novel, as they helped with her characterisation and to show what she was truly feeling.
What do you think? If you’ve been reading The Buddha’s Bone, do you enjoy Kimberly’s poetry, or the novel as a whole? I’m always interested to hear what readers think because, after all, your thoughts keep me motivated to write more books!
Leilanie Stewart 