So, earlier this month, I decided I would re-read one of my books every month. At first, I only planned to read them from a writer's point of view, but it turns out, the reader and the writer in me are intertwined. So, I changed my plans. I decided I'd write two blog posts for each book, the first from a reader's point of view, the second from the vantage of a writer.
The first book I selected to read was Shutter's Eye. I'd had all my books on sale one at a time over the month of December, and Shutter's Eye was one of the last, so it was on my mind. Plus, when I wrote it, I thought it was one of my best novels. When I published it, the book didn't sell. For me, that gives Shutter's Eye a kind of mystique. What about it didn't draw people in? Was it the cover? The topic? Something about how I marketed it? Maybe if I reread it, I'd figure that out.
Shutter's Eye, the Basics
The heroine in Shutter's Eye is an award-winning photographer who, along with her best friend, survived a racially motivated bombing. In the first chapter, the girls are teens, Amy is buying her first camera, and they step outside moments before the store explodes. In the next chapter, the girls are twelve years older and Jamina is getting married. The book -- a steamy romance -- takes place in the week leading up to Jamina's wedding and gently interjects thoughts about racism, PTSD, and the family you choose into the storyline.
Shutter's Eye: Why I Love It
So, the first thing I noticed when I started re-reading Shutter's Eye was that I had been right. It is a good story. It moves at the perfect pace, the characters pop right off the page, and the bombing... oh my, the bombing. That first chapter pulls you right in and smacks you in the face. The next chapter follows up with more, completely different action, as we see Amy in action taking photos at a rock concert. We learn that she still has hearing damage, and she is affected by loud noises and bright, flashing lights, so even if there is a twelve-year gap, young Amy and present-day Amy are tied together, and the story proceeds with a seamless transition from the past to the present.
Where it is Set and Why
I chose to set the book in Abbotsford, BC. I made this choice deliberately because I once lived there -- my eldest child was born there. Abbotsford historically was known as the "Bible belt," but as time has passed, it has increased in population and has attracted a lot of East Indian Canadians. There has been some gang activity involving an Indo-Canadian gang, and so it felt like a realistic spot to set the story. Some of the landmarks mentioned really do exist. There is a park, for example, that I have walked in many times. In truth, though, the story is not about Abbotsford, and it only nominally affects the book.
Origin of the Inspiration
The bombing in the book happens when a man leaves his backpack at the front counter -- a store policy. The bomb is hidden inside the pack. I got the idea for this years earlier when I was working as a cashier in retail. Our store had this policy. The idea was to minimize shoplifting, but there wasn't a single time where someone left their backpack with me that I didn't think, bomb. It was a no-brainer to turn this into the backdrop of a novel.
What I Didn't Love
So, I was pleased with the re-read. I also couldn't help but notice, there were way too many small mistakes in the draft. Dunno what I was thinking when I edited! Maybe I was in a hurry? Anyway, there was just one punctuation gaff too many, so after my read-through, I did a nice edit and reissued the cleaned-up edition. If I needed any other reason, that was worth the read!
The Moral
When the bombing in Syria was in the news, I was strongly affected. The horror of the country being decimated piece by piece penetrated deeply. I have no connections to Syria, but there was something about that humanitarian crisis that made me ache. I think part of that was the callousness some people espoused about the devastation based on the fact that this was a country we were not allied with, the people practiced a faith the majority of us do not, and the colour of their skin was... not white.
To me, people are people. We are all God's children, red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in his sight. That's the song. We teach it to our children and then for whatever reason, we don't live it as adults. I mean, royal we. Not everyone, of course. Still, I don't, and never will, understand -- or accept -- racism. This book allowed me to speak to that, if even only in a very small, very gentle way.
What the Title Means to Me
The title, Shutter's Eye, appeals to me tangibly as someone who is herself an amateur photographer. It appeals to me from an art-school, critical-thinking way as the observer. The camera is an inanimate object without a mind of its own, and yet it sees for us, and we capture viewpoints out of its lens. When that shutter clicks, it freeze-frames moments in time, and you can never truly know what you are going to get until you play the sequence of your shots back later. Light, shadow, movement, aperture, the caliber of your equipment, your training, and your vantage point all affect what your camera sees. To me, the title captures the sensation of that -- of looking and seeing and being seen.
I definitely enjoyed visiting Shutter's Eye again. In fact, I enjoyed this book so much, that I've already got an idea for a follow-up featuring Amy's rock star stepbrother. So, you never know. there could be more to come!
If you are interested in checking out Shutter's Eye: The Reader's Perspective, check out this link.
Thanks for reading!
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