A former Yorkton resident has recently released her first novel. C. L. Ford's Beautifully Broken is now available through AuthorHouse.
The story is about the main character interacting with four different women through the course of the narrative, centering around the failure of a relationship. She says that the ending is a twist that readers will not expect, and one that she admits could be controversial.
"I know the end of the book might offend some people, and that wasn't my intent. That's just how it came together, and I thought it was the ending I want and it wrote itself," Ford says.
Ford says that she didn't know what kind of book she was going to write when she began. She thought she would lean toward politics and history. However, she says she began writing the story, inspired in part by a bad break-up of a long-term relationship of her own, and admits that it might have begun as a bit of therapy, until growing into a story which she felt was worthy of being sent into the world.
"I think initially I just started a journal to myself, and it just took off from there and it just kind of blossomed... It wasn't something I expected to write or publish."
The narrative is told in an unconventional manner and she admits that some of the grammar and spelling is deliberately poor. She says the reason for this is to get a better grasp of who her main character is and the way he speaks and thinks. She says it's a story that people can recognize, whether in their own lives or those around them, and her goal was to make a story about people and relationships that felt real.
"It's just a regular person writing a regular story... I call it my own dark version of a love story, because at the end of the day the main character did love all these women, it just wasn't always a storybook romance, it was a little dark sometimes."
The book is self published, and Ford says that her experience with AuthorHouse, which published the novel, has been overall highly positive. She recommends anyone who is writing take the chance and try to put their own work out there.
"Even if I only sold one book, just achieving this has been amazing."
The book itself has also been well received from the people who Ford has spoken with.
"The people that have read the book have said positive things, and I hope they're not saying that because they're my friends."
Ford grew up in Yorkton in the '80s, and says that the city still feels like home, even after having lived in Calgary and Regina. It's somewhere she continues to appreciate in her life. "It's changed, but it hasn't changed in some ways, which is both good and bad. But it's still a great place, and I wouldn't trade growing up there," Ford concludes.
Beautifully Broken is available direct from AuthorHouse at www.authorhouse.com.
