Two Sides: Origin Story
Two Sides to the Story has quickly become more, much more, than I expected (I think Lory would say the same). I can’t tell you exactly what I expected, but I know it wasn’t all that we have experienced in the last two and half months. We did a live audience interview, we are adding podcast episodes and blog posts regularly. Our data shows that the number of views on the podcast and website are growing nicely. We have followers that have found us without us having any idea how. We have a core group of support that has been nothing short of amazing and is greatly appreciated. Never saw it coming.
When I wonder about all of this and think back on how Two Sides happened, I identify three moments of beginning.
The first, long before there was any thought of a podcast, was a comment from Lory. I think I was standing in her office doorway and she said, “You and I are going to write something together. I don’t know what it is, but we are going to write something.” The idea that we would write drove us to find out what that might be.
Though Lory was reading much more nonfiction than fiction, we eventually settled on the idea of a novel. I wish I had kept notes. So hard remembering timelines now; I can’t remember if we settled on writing a novel and then came up with the opening line, or if the opening line settled us on writing a novel. Either way, that leads to our second beginning. I think this was the very first version of the opening line – “A girl stands outside a bookstore trying to figure out how to break in.”
Still feels good to me. The words might change a little, but that is still likely to be our opening line. That line was inspired in some unknowable way by a bookstore we both knew, but had gotten to know independently. The Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, Maryland wormed its way into our minds and into the story’s opening line even though, in the book, the store is probably in an urban setting.
So, I said I was going to talk about the origins of Two Sides, but so far I’ve only talked about writing a still unwritten book. The book is now on hold because our time and effort were diverted by the podcast. Again, it is hard to remember how things evolved, but I don’t believe the podcast would have happened without us starting the book.
As we write and talked, the idea of a podcast emerged. Originally, the podcast was a solo project of mine that happened as a result of author interviews I had been doing for the Carroll County Public Library. When I discussed the podcast concept with Lory, she shared her ideas for what I could do with the show. Over time, the ideas grew as did the realization that doing the podcast together would be a fun project. We played with lots of ideas before settling into an intentionally broad theme of a podcast about books and readers, writers and writing, and libraries and bookstores. We had a concept. With more ideas than we knew what to do with, but we weren’t leaping into action. Until…
The third beginning arose as Lory and I were walking out of Exploration Commons, kind of our Two Sides headquarters, and just by chance, we walked by a room where people we knew were holding a book event. Lory said, “What if we did our first podcast episode in front of a live audience?”
Almost like magic it happened. We found ourselves in that same room at Exploration Commons a short time later doing our first Two Sides to the Story episode. We had a great time and that episode remains our most watched. Lory’s ‘what if’ pushed us to take our first big step. All that has happened since can be traced back to that moment.
It has been so much fun, but we are both feeling like the best is still ahead. The ideas are piling up more quickly than we can use them. Opportunities seem to keep finding us. We’ve started making trips to find good books and interesting book people. The possibilities seem endless.
Of course, we need an audience to share this with us. We are so grateful to those of you who have listened to our podcast episodes and read our blog posts. We would love it if you would introduce us to readers who might like what we are doing. And as always, send an email to let us know what you think, what you would like us to do, and to tell us your stories.