Save Me
Sarah Beth James is a 33 year old writer, from London England. She has resently self published her first book Save Me on amazon in paperback and kindle editions. We have conducted an interview with her.
What is 'Save Me' about?
Save Me is about a young man called Jack, who broke up with his boyfriend after a chokehold relationship. The only relationship he had ever had from high school onwards. After it ends, he finds himself falling into depression and addiction. Trying to find out where to find love to fill the hole in his heart. Looking in the wrong places like we all do after a breakup. He even ends up in an anti gay church who convinces him everything will be better if he just stops being gay. His friend Nic is the hero of the storyline, trying to rescue Jack and show him that this really isn’t the right way to head in his life.
Who and what inspires you to write this book?
It is based loosely on my own experiences growing up hiding the fact I am a bisexual, and the trauma I faced coming out and on the experiences of friends of mine. We all had bad relationships, which is how we came together to talk about it. We started writing our experiences down and sharing them to help us heal. One day it just started turning into the book. We hope that our stories will help others to understand when things are wrong in their lives so they never have to go through the hell we did.
In the midst of the writing of this book, what challenge(s) did you encounter? How did you overcome them?
Facing my own personal demons was difficult, having to remember and talk about things that had happened to me in my past. Sometimes I had to walk away for a few days, or even skip a few chapters ahead before I could come back and finish the more abusive pieces of writing.
Is there a character in your stories whom you like very much?
Nic has to be my favourite person in the book, he is based on the man I date. We have known each other since we were 17, there is almost nothing we don’t know about each other. He helped me create the character, even named him.
Do you have future plans to turn this book into a series? If yes, what are the possible themes/titles/synopsis?
I just started writing the sequel which is called Too Many Tears, which carries on six months after the end of Save Me. It will continue Jack’s journey to rediscover who he is, and also see Nic starting a new career. I have had requests to take the characters into a series, but it will depend if the characters have any more story to tell when I get to the end of the second book. I won’t just write for the sake of having another book under their names. It should be out in 2017 when I will also have another book coming out about a bisexual man who finds out he has cancer, trying to face his fears and accept his sexuality to date the woman he has loved all his life before it is too late. That will be titled Can’t Let You Go.
Why did you choose for 10% of the profits of your book to go to 'Have A Gay Day'?
Have a Gay Day is an organisation that helps LGBT youth and all members come to terms with their sexuality. It is run out of Dayton, and helps find housing for homeless LGBT youth. It also has fb and twitter pages with 24/7/365 as a helpline for those feeling overwhelmed or suicidal. It was a great help to me when I was questioning. I know without this outreach I would have killed myself during my coming out years.
