We all grapple with finding our secure place in this world. Some of us are forced to live the reality that NOTHING is guaranteed to us in this life–security, first and foremost–more in our faces than others. Every time I see a tragedy on TV, I want to hug those whose lives are being disrupted by the chaos swamping them. And when I hear a survivor talk of finding hope again, I want to cheer louder than ever, because THAT’s the reality that feeds me and keeps me dreaming and shows me that, no matter my challenges, there’s absolutely no way I’m going to give up either. We all need something to hold onto. We’re all fighting for the same hope and security and peace that life wouldn’t be the same without.
The comments on yesterdays’ post mean so much to me. I don’t write easy-to-read stories. At least not from Page One.
I write heroes, through and through. But the true hero for me is one who bottoms out in a way most of us wouldn’t recover from, and then soars to new heights because of their faith and love and willingness to fight until they grapple their heart and soul back into believing.
Three Days on Mimosa Lane is a survivor’s story. Not just our heroine, who was a school teacher at Ground Zero (we meet Sam first in Christmas on Mimosa Lane, where she steals every scene she’s in). But her husband–who’s stood by her side, at the expense of healing completely himself, all the years that he’s waited for her to come fully back to herself after the PTSD and trauma of everything she saw and felt and experiences on that awful day more than a decade ago. And their Chandlerville community and neighbors on Mimosa Lane. They’re survivors and heroes, too, tested on the first day of our story by a tragedy ripped from contemporary headlines: a school shooting that I swear was part of Three Days’s design, long before Sandy Hook happened.
I could have pulled back. I could have not written the more challenging things I’d intended out of the story. But these characters were already who they are, and they wouldn’t have been the heroes the were destined to become (or had the happily ever afters I wanted for them) if I’d pulled my punches. Happily ever after is essential to me as a creative writer, but it’s the journey to that beautiful place of discover that inspires me, as much as the destination. And this is one of my favorite journeys and endings of all! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
The Romance Reviews calls what I’ve created cathartic. What an amazing compliment! Exactly what I’m hoping for. The reviewer talks about identifying with Brian Perry’s journey and problems coping just as much, if not more so, than she did Sam’s. And the children. What is it really like for children to face loss and to try and understand the flawed reactions of the adults in their lives, and then to keep loving themselves and others regardless, because otherwise their world really would be destroyed by the darkness threatening their families.
I’ll be sharing a lot more about my latest Mimosa Lane adventure over the next few weeks. But from the very start I want those of you who love deeper, more reality than make-believe stories that will lift you higher because you’ve taken the time to feel your way through the experience to know that I hope Three Days is as much a blessing for you to read as it was for me to write. I hope to one day meet heroes like Sam and Brian and their sons and friends and neighbors. I hope to experience something close to the triumph they do. I hope to hear from more of you about your own thoughts and feelings and and hopes and dreams and challenges–and how reading stories like mine might help you on your way to grabbing your own safety and security, and never letting it go!
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna’s world, creativity & inspiration, Families, family, family drama, fighters, heroes, hope, inspiration, Love on Mimosa Lane, Mimosa Lane, Montlake Romance, poetry, promise, relationships, Robert Frost, Seasons of the Heart Series, Three Days on Mimosa Lane, Women’s Fiction
