After finishing high school at 16, Christian Cook moved from the suburbs of Detroit to the city of Chicago to major in journalism. She quickly learned that was not the path for her and moved on as a public relations major. However, her love for writing remained.

At just 3 years old, Christian would make up stories to share with her family. After not doing much writing, she rediscovered her passion for it during a writing program in Paris. From there, she wrote her first indie novel, I Hate Gray, which landed in the top 10 new releases on Amazon.

Now Christian is preparing for her book, Growing in the Gray. A story lifted from her own life experiences and tied in the story from her first book to give the reader a fuller expression of a life of faith.

Resolute Magazine: Just reading the synopsis of this book, what is the thing that inspired you to write this book and share it with people?

Christian Cook: This book was an inspiration from a book I published previously. It was very indie. It did make top 10 on the new release list on Amazon. And as I was reading it, I just felt like there was so much I left out that I could’ve added just to make the story richer. Like more dialogue between characters, a lot of scenery description, and putting someone in the shoes of what it’s like to be here for the first time. What it’s like to kind of have that coming-of-age essence. 

It’s like, “I’m starting school. What type of girl do I want to be? Do I want to be like a party girl? Do I want to be quiet? Do I want to be like super studious? What crowd do I want to get mixed into? What are the cool hang-out spots in Chicago?” Because I’m not from here. I don’t know. And I wanted all of these feelings: Possibly being in love, trying to make new friends, making a name for yourself in the world, I wanted that feeling to be in this book and I wanted it to be very obvious. And I wanted it [to be] something you couldn’t miss. 

So, last summer I took the time… I really started with editing and adding to the first book, which is this new book Growing in the Gray, in March. So about March up until about, on and off in September, I was just adding scenes. Like, really combing through and taking my time, not rushing. And like this story is now full. 

With that, were there any parts of the story that were inspired by your own life and your own experiences?

Yes. A lot of this book is inspired by my own life. My own experiences, um, specific scenes. Like, the art gallery scene, the art gallery party. I used to do that a lot. I just started getting back into it because restrictions have come up through COVID, and I just tried to put myself back into that scene. 

The guy that she likes in the book is inspired by someone I met when I first moved here. 

The little sister character. I don’t have an older sister, but in the book I gave the main character an older sister because I always wanted one. I always wondered what that would be like. What would she be like? So that was like really fun. That creating a new character completely that wasn’t inspired by my life. 

And that grind that I felt at the time. Like, I wanted to be at every networking event back in the day. I just wanted to immerse myself fully in every experience that I possibly could. So, you see that the main character’s name is Krista Clark. So you see that a lot in Krista from the beginning all the way to the end of the book. 

You shared that you went to Columbia for P.R. Do you still do P.R. work? 

Yes. So right now I work at a public relations agency. I still kind of do like some freelance p.r. stuff on the side from time to time. Because I have a main passion for marketing, branding, p.r. I’m always paying attention to what brands are doing, what’s popular, and what’s working. I read articles at random on AdWeek, P.R. Daily, P.R. Week.

It was a career choice of mine that I don’t regret. It wasn’t like I secretly hated p.r. And wanted to write. It was I embraced both.

For the book, it releases on September 6th, and you still have time but not like a whole lot of time…

It’s not! We’re here at the end and I’m getting more excited every day. Like when I woke up and realized today was July, I was like “We’re two months away. The book is completely finished, it’s set to print.” We’re really, like me and my time, we’re really just at this point looking for reviews. Like, what different publications would be like a best fit for connecting with? 

With that, what are some of the ways that you notice the books influence pre-release?

The time for this book being published is almost, like, eerily perfect, I think. We need a light right now in the world. It just feels very dark and heavy a lot. It’s almost like every time we open an app, check the news… it’s like we’re living in a constant state of emergency. 

So that mixed in with, and this is just my personal opinion, I feel like we need to see more girls having an evolution in their lives. Going from that late teens to twenties switch is a very important time in a girl's life. She’s now putting, like, the past behind and she’s trying to decide what type of woman she wants to be and how can she get there. And, the type of evolution that I’m speaking about, it’s not like an overnight success. It’s not… we need to see more people like building over time and I got here instead of people being, like, everything is overnight. You have an idea one day, the next day you’re a mass success and everyone wants to know your name. Like, what’s the build up? The journey? And just a little bit more wholesome. Because we are like moving towards the time where certain girls don’t want to put themselves out there so who’s the girl, almost like an inspiration or a light to the girls who don’t want to be like that. 

Because what they’re seeing is “popular.” But, what did they want to be originally? Who were they inside before scrolling on Instagram seeing a Instagram model do something else? 

When it comes to the writing process and crafting of this book, what was that process like?

It was pretty much seamless, um, because I break down the book into chapters. I always write in chapter form. I don’t think about the whole book when I first start writing. I think about the story I want to tell. I think about the beginning, like a loose beginning, a loose idea of the middle, and a loose idea of an ending. 

So, from there, it’s like “Okay, chapter 1… what do I want to happen in chapter 1?” Then I write it all in full. Then I read chapter 1, and I’m like, “Okay, what happens next?” I literally write it chapter to chapter all the way through the end. 

Nice! So, you are big on outlining?

Yes! You have to have a good guide and outline. It makes it so much easier. Because I feel like once you do read it, you’re just going to see how it kind of flows in together. 

Now it is a little different because there are some time hops in it. That is the way the book is written. I had to make sure it was obvious when it isn’t the present moment and she’s talking about a moment from the past. And when you’re doing something like that with time, you have to be very careful so the reader doesn’t get lost. So, I did my best to make sure it was as seamless and as easy to follow as possible. 

What was the editing process like?

It’s kind of funny that you ask that because my publisher when I sent them the final manuscript over of what I had written, she was like, “Did anyone edit this?” She was like, “It’s pretty much done. All we have to do is, like, fix some grammar and it would be set to print.” 

That was back in September. 

And I was like, “No. No one edited it. I just read it, religiously.” Like I told you, I re-read through the chapters. So, through that time of editing, trying to check for commas. [Questioning] is that what I really want to say? Is there a different word I can use? 

And the main question I ask myself all the way through the end is: Is this story being told as fully as it can? Do we have scents involved? Do we have the scenery involved? Do we have, just real, authentic dialogue between these characters? 

Yeah. 

Because every character in the book, the youngest character in the book is the main character Krista’s little sister. So we have a high schooler in there, one who just started college, her older sister Valentina who’s like early twenties, college dropout. And she’s just like, “Okay, I don’t know where I’m going, how to get there.” And then all the other friends that she meets along the way and in school.

So, it’s really that young adult cusp of like late teens, early twenties making their mark on the world and doing it the best way they know how. A lot of interesting twists and turns along the way.

For Christa, the main character, what is her motivation? 

The main character’s motivation in this book is to get out of Michigan. She said, “I’m from here. I don’t want to live here for the rest of my life stuck in my parent's basement. I want to be the best art curator in the world. Working at different museums, working with different artists, bringing their visions to life.” And she’s like this, going to Chicago, going away to art school, this is going to be the way I do it. That was her main motivation. What she didn’t realize was “Oh, I’m actually away from home. This is scary. This is weird. This is different.” 

But her other motivation is her not giving up because she doesn’t want to seem like a failure to her parents. She doesn’t want to seem like a failure to herself, giving up on her dream. And also there’s some, showing people back home like, “Look, I actually left and I’m living my life without you guys because she genuinely didn’t feel connected to the people that she grew up with back home.” So, it was just like forget the past. This is me. Almost nothing there mattered to her.

When it comes to the reader, what is the thing that you know is the glue that everyone catches onto when reading this book? 

I hope people are entertained by the book. I tried to add some humorous elements in there. But just understanding that life does not have– I had a hard time coping with this and understanding this when I was, like, 17, 18, years old… everyone thinks success is just a straight line. And I’m, like, okay “I made the decision to go to school here. Everything should be okay.” But, I felt terrible. I’m like, “I don’t think I want to be here. This is not what I thought it would be like.”

And just understanding how sometimes the right choice is not always going to feel comfortable. In fact, sometimes making the right choice feels the most uncomfortable because it’s not going to feel the way you thought it was going to feel. Nothing I’ve ever done, even if I wanted it, felt the way I thought it would feel. Happened the way I thought it would happen, but I feel a little bit different after it happened. 

Maybe after you’ve accomplished something you think you’re going to be excited. But, because you accomplished it you may feel a little tired… You’re happy that it happened, but you’re like, “You know what, I’m tired now. And thank you for the recognition, I’m still very grateful for this.” But after you accomplish something, the accomplisher– if that’s a word, is a mess. 

I agree.

That main point is: Things are going to happen for you in this life. Just be prepared for maybe feeling different than you might feel and it happening not exactly how you imagined.

—

Writer Bio:

Shonette Reed is the founder and editor of Resolute Magazine. The South Central Los Angeles native enjoys cooking, exploring, expansive conversations, and reading a good book when she's not working or planning for work.