Themes in THE GRIEF ROAD

Which is more terrifying, living through grief, or experiencing what comes after?

The theme of The Grief Road

Is that even a fair question when no one is ever completely finished grieving?

I set out writing THE GRIEF ROAD wanting to explore this concept. I know this isn't a completely unique idea. It's been done before, although surprisingly I didn't find a lot of books that dug into it through characters in an adventure fantasy genre.

I researched and consulted with a grief therapist who was very helpful tying grief theory to common experiences shared among people who are grieving (thank you, Katy Friedman Miller). I read through touching stories published by those who experienced deep grief and their advice on navigating the "process". I was very careful not to include any individual story in my novel that I came across during my research, but I did discover a vast number of common feelings and experiences. Brandon, Rowan, and Trevor experience these.

I learned a lot along the way. The five "stages" of grief often quoted from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's 1969 book, ON DEATH AND DYING, aren't really stages at all, and she regrets that they were interpreted that way. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance are all common experiences, but not boxes to check off in a linear order. People experiencing grief slip in and out of these "stages" in different order, often experiencing them many times. "Time heals all," the expression goes, but not completely. While no one ever seems to stop grieving, there is often a fear of what comes after. They've been living in grief for so long, they're afraid of what they will do, or how they will feel, after accepting it.

The road through grief is hell. It takes extreme courage to walk it and face what's at the road's end.

That is the story I wanted to tell.