Rayne Lacko has always loved stories.
As a little girl, tearing through book after book, she would have been delighted by this one: Once upon a time, a little girl who loved stories grew up to become an author.
Today, Lacko has two novels under her belt, as well as two social-emotional journals for kids and teens. Her most recent book, “The Secret Song of Shelby Rey,” was published in June, as a collaboration between SparkPress and Simon & Schuster.
“Shelby Rey” tells the story of 18-year-old Shelby, a traumatized teen drawn into the orbit of a rock ‘n’ roll band in 2008 Los Angeles. Whenever Shelby touches someone else, she can hear music—that person’s innermost self, uniquely expressed.
Just as with books, Lacko has always been drawn to music. “Everything has been sung about,” she marveled. “Everything has been expressed.” She recalled a moment in high school when a song blared through the cafeteria, raising the hair on her arms. Years later, that memory became the spark for “Shelby Rey.”
By 2009, Lacko was living in Orange County, tapping out “one paragraph at a time” of “Shelby Rey” while juggling a toddler and a kindergartener. An early draft of the novel found its way to local music therapists working with nonverbal teenage patients. Those therapists asked Lacko to design workbooks to accompany it.
Lacko was taken aback. “I thought I was writing something that was a lot more gritty,” she laughed.
But “Shelby Rey” had an undeniable emotional core.
“Sometimes when there’s difficulties or trauma in your life, it becomes impossible to talk about it or impossible to put words to it,” Lacko said. “We just pull back. We withdraw. As humans, though, we are meant to connect with each other.”
Once Lacko recognized the transformative arc that ran through “Shelby Rey,” she began her own transformation. She went back to school for a master’s degree in social-emotional learning, then for another in creative writing. After relocating to Bainbridge, she began teaching courses—including teen writing workshops at Bainbridge Public Library.
To Lacko, social-emotional learning is simply “how you’re able to regulate your own emotions and recognize them in other people.” That definition was on her mind when, a year and a half ago, her publisher asked her to return to the long-abandoned “Shelby Rey” manuscript. As Lacko revamped the book, she focused on infusing every sentence with social-emotional principles. The final draft represents the journey toward a more socially and emotionally aware self.
“She ends up having really intimate contact with other people and understands that they have a rich inner world,” Lacko said. “And she longs for someone to be able to have that knowledge about her, too.”
The June publication of “Shelby Rey” marked the end of a nearly 20-year journey. But, Lacko acknowledged, her relief doesn’t mean she’s not anxious to have the final product out in the world. As an artist, “no matter what you do, you’re going to have to be vulnerable,” she said. “You’re going to have to say, ‘OK, I made this and you may look [at it].’”
At least there’s this: The people looking at Lacko’s work are overwhelmingly supportive. In June, Bainbridge Public Library collaborated with Eagle Harbor Books to host a “Shelby Rey” book launch. An excited Lacko brought themed cookies and other giveaways for fans.
The launch reminded Lacko how much she values Bainbridge’s creative scene. Living in LA, she felt like “the lonely writer on the mountainside,” even among millions of other people. In contrast, “the community here is so incredibly rich and broad,” she said. “It’s so warm and so connected and so powerful.”
With “The Secret Song of Shelby Rey” in the rearview mirror, Lacko—who has worked across a range of genres—now plans to try her hand at writing fantasy. She’s unintimidated by the prospect.
“There’s no writer’s block,” she said. “I have a thousand ideas of potential things I could write about. You don’t wait for inspiration; you just sit down and begin. Inspiration will come once your hands are moving, once you’re under way.”
