Guest post written by Eight Nights To Win Her Heart author Miri White
Miri White and her quirky family live in Massachusetts in a home filled with games, sarcasm, and a hefty amount of pets. When not writing she can be found trapped under a purring cat, drinking copious amounts of flavored coffee, and hoping her music making teenager will compose something to go along with her books—no such luck yet. Writing has always been a passion for her and bringing underrepresented characters into the spotlight is a thrill.
About Eight Nights To Win Her Heart: Bask in the warm glow of the menorah in this debut Jewish romantic comedy featuring a hard-of-hearing hero and a Chanukah meet-cute, perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon and Jean Meltzer.
In Eight Nights to Win Her Heart, Leo Dentz is hard of hearing. As is the case with many different marginalizations, I have often been disappointed in how outsiders portray hearing loss. Inaccurate depictions and unrealistic expectations have been far too readily available.
I’m Hard of Hearing myself and have been since birth. This is part of why it’s so important to me to include these characters in my books. I also have always known that most hearing people don’t really understand my reality, so I like having an opportunity to explain it, just a bit.
For creating Leo, the challenge was in the details. Age of onset for hearing loss, type of loss, education and surroundings, all of this have a huge impact on the adult. A simple example: age of onset relates to access to language. Leo, I decided, was born hearing. After getting sick at age sixteen he became hard of hearing. This means he had full access to language and knowledge up until that point. It also means a rather different teenage experience.
My hearing loss wasn’t identified until I was five years old. My access to language could have, and should have, been affected. Only I grew up with a stay-at-home mom and a family that speaks loudly, so my language acquisition skills were not an area I struggled with—most of the time. There are still words I mispronounce, and others that I have heard wrong for more years than I care to admit here.
Figuring out Leo’s entrance to the hard of hearing world was step one. Step two was considering what he can and can’t hear and what environments would be challenging. I went with my own experiences and what I know: loud places like a restaurant or holiday event would be tricky. Someone speaking out of view would be more challenging. I paid attention to the locations to develop him as a realistic character. I also had to pay attention to the flow of the scenes, because even though it might be highly realistic to miss something in intense moments, it doesn’t always read well on the page.
I’ve tried paying attention to exactly how much I miss, and don’t miss, during an average day. It would up being tricky to figure out because I miss multiple things daily. Or I’m working so hard to put the pieces together, that I don’t realize what I have missed and what I haven’t. That part is hard to put into writing because it’s not clear in my own head and might very well be boring to read. I stick with a few missed things here and there. Enough that someone like me isn’t going to find Leo unrealistic. But also small enough not to drag down the story.
Another interesting element to consider in writing a hard of hearing character is how the family reacts to their hearing loss. Eight Nights to Win Her Heart features a Chanukah family gathering with Leo’s parents, younger brother, and older sister with her husband and daughter. Each person will have their own unique interaction with Leo’s hearing loss. For his brother-in-law and niece, it is likely to be just the way Leo has always been for them. But not the others.
A core part of the plot has always involved conflict between father and sons. Leo works in the family antique business with his brother, and their father does not want to sell the business to his sons. How does Leo’s hearing loss play into this?
Whether intentional or not, I knew this had to be part of the complicated web of issues between father and son. How many memes and jokes are out there about teenagers not listening? Or not responding? Or being grumpy? As a mother of a teen, I know these very well! Now add in a sixteen-year-old whose world has just been turned upside down with a disability. And his father keeps telling him he’s just not listening.
Hearing loss, at any onset beyond birth, is often thought of as not listening hard enough, or people are mumbling or not speaking up. It’s not as simple as needing glasses to see the word chart across the room. Leo and his father would have been put at odds with his disability. His mother would have come to the aid of her eldest son. The siblings would have less intense reactions. Older sister in college would be nurturing, and his younger brother concerned. All these interactions would grow with the characters and add to the family dynamics.
As an adult, Leo would be comfortable with his hearing loss. Not that all people in his shoes would be. It took me a long time to feel at home with my ears—though if someone wants the near constant tinnitus I have, I’m happy to share! For Leo, it would be part of his growth from teen to adult. His determination to be successful in business would not be hampered by his ears. He’d find a way to get what he needed. And every time someone, like his father, told him he couldn’t, he’d come back and show them he could.
Maybe as an adult he’d be a bit business focused and need to prove himself to his father, before putting the rest of his life in order. Like asking his cute neighbor, Andie, out on a date. Before things get settled with his father, Leo gets his chance with Andie, only to find out she’s moving far away. He has eight nights to try and win her heart, and maybe get his father to see him for once and for all.
