You Say You Want a Resolution | Sara Biren

 

Over the weekend, I was an attending author at the inaugural Romance Con in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I met (and fangirled over) several other authors but the highlight for me was meeting readers. One woman loves my books so much, she purchased all the hardcover editions and brought them onto the plane as carry-on luggage to keep them safe.

My top two questions from readers were pretty familiar and about the same book: “Are you going to write a sequel to Cold Day in the Sun?” (no) and “Why did you end it like that?” One reader even told me she didn’t like the ending–and it’s not the first time I’ve heard it. Without giving too much away, Cold Day in the Sun is about the only girl on the boys’ hockey team. At the end of the book, there’s a hockey game–the beginning of a hockey game. That’s it. The beginning.

Readers love a satisfying resolution: the happily ever after, the big reveal, the mystery solved. By the end of the book, authors have thrown all kinds of problems at their characters. We’ve brought the reader along on a wild journey. It’s important to tie up any loose ends and give them the conclusion they deserve. Sometimes, however, our dear readers must do a little work themselves.

Whether the Halcyon Lake Hawks won that important game at the end of Cold Day or their opponent embarrassed them on their home ice–and on TV–was irrelevant to the story and to my main character’s growth. I gave the readers resolution. If they want more, it’s up to them. Perhaps Holland scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Maybe the team suffered a brutal loss or an untimely injury or racked up penalty minutes that resulted in so many goals for the other team that there was no way to come back from it.

I know how I’d want the game to turn out–even though I chose to end the story the way I did. More than any other characters I’ve written, I’ve wondered and imagined how life turns out for Holland and Wes. And trust me, it’s all good. That’s one of the best parts about reading: The adventure continues in our minds long after the resolution.