The Beard

End Note

Hello. wow, I can't believe we're here at the end of the line for The Beard. I wanted to clear up a few things and share some secrets about The Beard. I want to first start by telling you guys all the things that were meant to happen.

Emie and Micah were meant to be together. Originally, as Sebastian came out as gay, Emie was meant to reflect on sexuality as a whole. With the help of Micah, she was going to think about herself and explore a territory she knew nothing about. The chapter where Micah talks about sexuality not defining you? That's where they were meant to get together.

Sebastian was supposed to be strictly gay. Sebastian and Emie were definitely not supposed to end up together in the end. He was meant to tell her he was gay, ask for her to be his beard, then kind of go and explore himself. Somewhere along the line, it changed. I assume it changed when Micah and Emie didn't become a couple. I mean, he could very well be gay, but he has that exception for Emie.

Jenny was not supposed to be homophobic. So, that was a spur of the moment thing. That was not how I wanted to write her character, not at all. She was meant to be a best friend, you know? But I needed something to kind of drive the plot a little and cause some sort of feud.

Cody was not meant to be there. He was only supposed to be mentioned once or twice then that's it. As you can imagine, moving from one state to another because your kid wants to is not that realistic. He was a surprise and honestly, he wasn't meant to be such a jerk.

Miguel wasn't meant to be a person. He was also a spur of the moment character to help drive the plot. Emie needed someone and he was there so I gave him a story. When he was created, Emie and Miguel were meant to be together for a short time before he moved away. That clearly didn't happen.

Last, but not least, Damien Caldwell was not meant to be an abusive guy. He wasn't even meant to be introduced into the plot. I found that I wanted Sebastian to not be so perfect, or at least not have that fantastic of a life. With the introduction of Damien, I wanted to slightly show the bad side of being different from those around you like family. He was definitely a surprise.

So, what is The Beard really about? Well, I implemented a lot of my views into Micah, the mom, Emie. Sexuality is something that shouldn't be such a big deal, but it is and might always be. Of course, it's part of you, but it doesn't solely define you. That's the point I wanted to make like when Sebastian was crying to Emie about possibly being gay. What Emie said is what I would tell someone in that situation.

Not only that, but you don't always need a label. Honestly, you like what you like. If you just love people and don't want to force a label onto yourself, I'm all for that. That's one of the things I tried to hint at too. Sebastian thought he was gay, yes? But he's completely, irrevocably in love with Emie. That can happen, where people connect on a level that goes beyond sexual attraction. My inspiration for that was actually Jeffree Star and his boyfriend Nate. Nate was a completely straight man, but he and Jeffree are so much more than the sexual aspect.

The Beard is meant to show people that you are who you are. What people say shouldn't matter. 

My book was definitely not meant to be so deep, haha, but you know, plans change. Next step, editing and entering the wattys. So, if it's in your library, consider removing it so you aren't spammed with notifications!

Thank you guys so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. Without you, The Beard would be nowhere. As a side note, The Beard has been #1 for inthecloset for a couple weeks now. That's all because of you guys!

~ Sky, aka Shailene Marks