Writing a novel is never easy, but Wilcox senior Alyssa McKercher recently achieved this feat, debuting her first self-published novel on October 15th.
Golden Wallflowers is a young adult slow-burn romance set in a California coastal town, following two highschoolers Xander Griffin and Harumi Valencia. As the two are unexpectedly pushed together in a fake relationship, they begin to build a genuine, loving connection through their shared love of the fictional indie band the Golden Wallflowers.
The construction of this novel was years of hard work. McKercher’s first spark of inspiration to seriously pursue writing struck in fifth grade, after her teacher read aloud her personal narrative recounting her move from California to South Carolina. “I hid under her desk and covered my eyes and ears. But you know when the praise gets to you and you’re like ‘maybe I’m actually good at this?’ That’s how it felt like,” McKercher explains.
This budding confidence inspired her to pursue creative writing. Her first short stories involved an archeologist’s death and the serious fossil-digging his younger sister took to uncover the suspect. Her first full-length (unpublished) murder mystery Newsflash: You’re Next… followed shortly after.
As her writing journey continued, McKercher stumbled upon a webtoon called Seasons of Blossom by manhwa artist HongDuck. Set in a Korean high school in the spring season, Yoon Bomi fakes a relationship with cold, distant classmate Choi Jinyoung. As the pair continue getting to know each other, their feelings grow, their relationship eventually becomes real.
Inspired by the fuzzy feelings from the plot, McKercher wanted to write a novel with the same fake-dating trope: “Xander is loosely based on Bomi and Harumi, Jinyoung. While the basic premise is the same, my story has molded and adapted into something that can stand on its own.”
McKercher’s writing process started quite eccentrically. Her first draft was actually typed on a Bluetooth keyboard, connected to her Ipad. Eventually, she transitioned to typing away on her MacBook in bed at ungodly hours of the night. She explains that between 11pm and 5am, she has the most writing juice, words flowing uninterrupted and concentration at its sharpest.
In terms of planning, McKercher loves making Spotify playlists to fit the mood of the book. Coupled with her extensive Pinterest boards, she also writes out multiple pages of overviews, backstories and motivations for each individual character: “I am a very character-driven storyteller, so I need to know my characters like the back of my hand.” This helps her clarify where she wants the story to go and creates opportunity for aspects of herself to trickle into the characters.
For Golden Wallflowers specifically, Harumi’s passion for piano and Xander’s for guitar illuminates the world McKercher can escape into when she’s in the warm musical cocoon of piano keys and her favorite melodies.
In January this year, McKercher took the leap of faith to commit to publishing. She started reaching out to her friends to help her edit: “My main editor was my friend Leela Mathur. She was very very helpful for technical errors and would also help me come up with big ideas. I added multiple character POVs thanks to her suggestions.”
While everyone knows receiving feedback for something one cares about so deeply can be really daunting, Alyssa actually found it quite motivating. As more people affirmed that her work was impressive and worth publishing, it strengthened her resolve to finish the race.
“Throughout this process I’ve learned the reward is so much better than the terrible feelings along the way.” As she bittersweetly says goodbye to her beloved characters, McKercher is also eagerly excited for the world to have them too. Go buy your copy of Golden Wallflowers now, out on Amazon!
