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Writing The Elvis I Wish I Knew With Both Truth and Imagination
One of the most fascinating challenges in writing about Elvis Presley is deciding where the line sits between what happened and what might have happened. Anyone who has spent time with Elvis’s story knows how much of his life is already wrapped in myth, memory, and interpretation. Even the most rigorous biographies rely on recollections, interviews, and fragments of truth filtered through the people who loved him, worked with him, or simply watched him from afar.
When I began shaping The Elvis I Wish I Knew, I found myself returning to a simple question: how do you honour the real man while exploring the life he never had the chance to live?

The pull of biography

There is a deep satisfaction in working with real events - the Sun Studio days, the early friendships, the moments that shaped him long before fame became a burden. Books like Jerry Schilling’s Me and a Guy Named Elvis show how powerful those personal memories can be. They offer glimpses of Elvis not as an icon, but as a young man navigating sudden success, loyalty, and expectation.
Those truths matter. They anchor the story.

The freedom of fiction

But fiction allows something biography cannot: the ability to ask “What if?” without needing permission from history.
What if someone close enough, trusted enough, had been able to say “No” at the right moment? What if Elvis had taken a different path - not away from music, but away from the pressures that ultimately consumed him? What if the friendships that shaped his early life had included one more voice, one more influence, one more steady presence?
Fiction lets us explore the emotional truth behind those questions, even when the factual truth is fixed.

Walking the boundary

Writing this book meant walking a tightrope between authenticity and imagination. The events you’ll recognise — the football game in 1954, the early recordings, the whirlwind years — are treated with respect. But the story also steps deliberately into the unknown, into the version of Elvis who could have existed if life had bent just slightly in his favour.
It isn’t a biography. It isn’t pure fiction. It’s a conversation between the two - a tribute to the man he was, and a hope for the man he might have become.

If you’re curious…

If you enjoy stories that blend real history with alternative possibility, or if you’ve ever wondered how Elvis’s life might have unfolded with one different influence at the right moment, you may find something meaningful in The Elvis I Wish I Knew.
You can explore the book here on Written - and perhaps join me in imagining the version of Elvis who finally found peace.

Megan and Deshawn started dating, and they were being praised as being one of the first interracial couples that the school had seen in awhile. They were praised by students and teachers alike. Of course, some people weren't happy, and among them was Aniyah. She severely disapproved of it, partly because she not-so-secretly liked Deshawn herself, and partly because she felt that the relationship pushed the colorism agenda: a Black guy (Deshawn) was dating a light-skinned/white girl (Megan), leaving dark-skinned girls like Aniyah in the dust and making them feel less than their light-skinned and white counterparts. So, Aniyah rallied Maria, Roselyn, Natalie, and Emma to conduct a plan to destroy the relationship. She kicked off the plan by flirting with Deshawn. He obviously tells her that he's not interested, but she persists. Rather than simply walking away, he actually shoves her in the lockers before walking away. Aniyah merely scoffs. This wouldn't be the last time, either.

After school, following a flirtatious voicemail from Connor Davidson, the most popular guy in their grade (Natalie and Emma in disguise), Megan and Deshawn have a huge fight. The latter angrily slaps her, but before she could run out, he embraces her, and she forgives him. I didn't like the fact that that act of domestic violence was undermined, but I digress. Megan says that they're being plotted against (it was then revealed that Roselyn was the one who told her about it earlier that day).

Later that night, Roselyn joins a four-way FaceTime call between Aniyah, Maria, Natalie, and Emma. The girls tell her more details about the plan while Megan and Deshawn silently listen to it on the other line. As the tea is being spilled, there is an obvious sense of hurt and betrayal in Megan's eyes. She unmutes the call and speaks. "Thanks, Roselyn. I've heard enough." She hangs up and cries in Deshawn's arms.

Varying degrees of shock and dismay are seen in the four girls' faces. Emma's face in particular says, "Roselyn ruined the plan," rather than, "Oh, man. I messed up."

Maria turns the call to Roselyn. "Just a tip, Roselyn," she says heated. "No one likes a snitch. I'd be scared if I were you. Just watch your back." She then hangs up.

The next day, Deshawn confronts Aniyah about the incident. Aniyah shows no remorse and tries to hone in on him. Already angered, he begins to assault her. Starting at her head, he slowly works his way lower. Aniyah is too weak to defend herself and falls to the ground. She is unable to get back up.

At the hospital, Doctor Russell and Nurse Lawson discuss the situation, and the former reveals that Aniyah is now paralyzed (Deshawn called the paramedics with an alibi, so he was cleared as a suspect). Aniyah is seen laying in her hospital bed in anguish.

The next day, Deshawn goes to visit Aniyah. Aniyah is now wheelchair-bound and unable to leave her own bedroom by herself (her parents weren't home). Aniyah threatens to call the police, but before she could, Deshawn grabs her wheelchair and throws her down the stairs. He immediately calls the cops.

The next day, a celebration of life service is held in the gym after lunch. Roselyn is more or less confused over what happened, while Maria is grief-stricken, having been closer to Aniyah than anyone else. Emma takes advantage of Maria's broken state to try and campaign for Halloween princess, much to the anger of Megan. She savagely berates the two, which gets little-to-no reaction from Emma but causes Maria to become even more upset. Roselyn lets it slide, understanding the pain and betrayal that Megan had to endure. She offers to hang out with her after school, but Megan politely declines.

Over the course of the school day, Megan does her best to avoid Natalie and Emma. I applauded her for this, as most people would just beat the living heck out of their so-called friends. At the end of the day, Natalie and Emma unsuccessfully talk to Megan as Megan gets on the bus. After she sits, she looks out the window, and the bus starts to drive away. As the bus leaves, it fades to black and stays black for awhile. Then, it fades out.

It goes to Maria, who is lying on her bed listening to some music. I could barely make it out, but it sounded like "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, which makes sense, as the lyrics are about losing a loved one. Maria is depressed, appropriately so due to the death of Aniyah. She never changed out of her outfit for the day (a pink sweater and black denim jeans); she just looks defeated.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Maria gets up and goes downstairs to open the door, revealing to be Megan. She has her hands behind her back and doesn't say anything.

"What?" Maria says in a rude and annoyed tone.

Megan looks into her eyes for a minute or two as the camera zooms in. Then she speaks in a chilling whisper.

"Say hi to Aniyah for me."

Realizing what she meant, Maria takes off, but Megan grabs the back of her sweater. Maria manages to break free with the sweater ripping a bit. She advances up the stairs with Megan right behind her. Maria runs into the bathroom and locks the door. She frantically looks around and realizes that she can't escape. Megan breaks down the door with a lump hammer. She kicks the door down and jumped in. Maria tries to run through the exit, but Megan grabs her hair and throws her down to the ground and immediately beats her to death with the hammer. After seeing her accomplishment, she sits on the floor to catch her breath for a few minutes. She then discards all evidence and calls the police.

After Maria's murder, one thing crossed my mind: Emma is so next. Sure, Megan (or Deshawn if he was willing to kill again) could go after Natalie, but Natalie was more or less along for the ride. She was too insecure to have anything openly against her. Emma, on the other hand, was a whole other person.

Like I predicted, it goes to Emma. It's at night, and Emma is doing some homework. Given that Aniyah and Maria's parents weren't present when their daughters were killed, it was safe to say that Emma was home alone as well. As the camera zooms in, it transitions from in front of her to behind her. Each transition increases with intensity and speed. When the camera is right in front of her, it goes to black. I assume this to be her demise, but it doesn't happen. Emma just gets the power back on and resumes working. Then, boom! The hammer goes down, and Emma falls to the ground with a thud. Megan comes into view, showing no remorse for her action.

"Sorry, Emma, but you left me no choice."