How Truth Inspired Fiction

It’s both thrilling and surreal to see Unbound officially out in the world. The moment your story goes live is one you can never fully prepare for. My excitement grows by the day knowing that you—the reader—are engaging with the pages, experiencing Andy’s journey, and soon, forming your own emotional connection with it. I won’t lie—there’s a bit of nervous energy too. It’s like standing backstage, waiting for the curtain to rise, eager to hear the audience’s response.

For this post, I don’t want to spoil any part of the story for those who are just diving in. But I thought it was a good time to pull back the curtain just a little and talk about something I’ve been asked often already: how much of Unbound is true? The answer is layered.

Unbound is a fictional story deeply inspired by real events and emotions. Every character in the book is based on someone real from my life—though their names were changed, and their individual storylines were fictionalized. When I crafted these scenes, I focused less on recreating exact situations and more on conveying the emotional truth behind them. In that sense, the heart of the story is entirely authentic. Certain characters left lasting marks on my life, especially in my youth, and I wanted that emotional weight to resonate on the page. In some cases, the real-life events were quieter or unfolded differently—but the feelings they stirred were deeply impactful. So I built fictional scenes around those truths—moments that reflected the heartbreak, longing, joy, and confusion I felt at the time. It was important to me that the emotional arc remained grounded in reality, even if the events themselves were dramatized to serve the narrative. I often say that I wrote Unbound from emotional cloth—stitched together with memory, imagination, and a whole lot of heart.

Once the book has been in readers’ hands a little longer, I’ll revisit this topic and share more behind-the-scenes glimpses into specific scenes and characters. But for now, I’ll leave space for you to discover the story in your own time—and hopefully, find a piece of your own truth within it.

Thanks for being here. Until next time,

—Chris