For this author, my storytelling has to speak to some value/issue/norm I want to explore in long form. In the case of 'SweetSpot: Now and Then' I needed to explore the developmental phase called midlife, a time when youth fades and the unknown becomes scary. Loss is a major theme addressed in midlife: aging parents, kids leaving the nest and marriages hitting the rocks. The divorce rate spikes in midlife marriages and I believe fear is a motivating factor in the changes, sometimes sweeping changes, people in midlife make. My protagonist, Darlene Robinson, stands at this crossroad when her story begins. Her story opens in NOW, a section sprinkled throughout this tale that offers a contrast between THEN, set in 1999, and NOW set years later. Perspective comes with time...sometimes.
NOW Dear Readers, When I first wrote ‘SweetSpot: Now and Then’ I didn’t consider it fiction, but it wasn’t my memoir either. Years ago, literary legend Norman Mailer defended the author that Oprah eviscerated on her show for fudging the facts in ‘A Million Little Pieces’ his memoir turned best seller once Oprah added it to her ‘Book Club’ list. Mr. Mailer said every memoirist has to lie because no one’s life is that compelling, not even his own. His words struck a chord as did those spoken by Nora Ephron in an interview about her debut novel ‘Heartburn’. She considered it as much memoir as work of fiction, a declaration likely affirmed by her exhubby who did his legal best to keep ‘Heartburn’ from seeing publishing’s light of day. I began writing this novel a few years before 9/11 shifted us into the world we inhabit now. In the years since typing ‘The End’ lots has happened and much of it good. I have three published books, all part of a series that sold well enough to establish me as a bona fide writer. Readers will learn more about my ‘home gardening’ series as this story progresses, a project I began in 1998, the summer before attending my first writers conference. That conference is also featured prominently in this story I’m about to tell you. ...
My publisher slotted SWEETSPOT: NOW and THEN in the romance, fantasy genres. I agree but must add Darlene's story is also 'coming of age' in midlife. While I know this isn't a defined genre, I also know that many readers, women especially, don't have the opportunity to 'come of age' in their youth. That phase postponed, they greet it in midlife and yes, it can be messy, much like this phase of life can be.
The author's decades' long experience working in mental health informs this story and all stories she tells. Thanks for your consideration. Marla
For this author, my storytelling has to speak to some value/issue/norm I want to explore in long form. In the case of 'SweetSpot: Now and Then' I needed to explore the developmental phase called midlife, a time when youth fades and the unknown becomes scary. Loss is a major theme addressed in midlife: aging parents, kids leaving the nest and marriages hitting the rocks. The divorce rate spikes in midlife marriages and I believe fear is a motivating factor in the changes, sometimes sweeping changes, people in midlife make. My protagonist, Darlene Robinson, stands at this crossroad when her story begins.
Her story opens in NOW, a section sprinkled throughout this tale that offers a contrast between THEN, set in 1999, and NOW set years later. Perspective comes with time...sometimes.
NOW
Dear Readers,
When I first wrote ‘SweetSpot: Now and Then’ I didn’t consider it fiction, but it wasn’t my memoir either. Years ago, literary legend Norman Mailer defended the author that Oprah eviscerated on her show for fudging the facts in ‘A Million Little Pieces’ his memoir turned best seller once Oprah added it to her ‘Book Club’ list. Mr. Mailer said every memoirist has to lie because no one’s life is that compelling, not even his own. His words struck a chord as did those spoken by Nora Ephron in an interview about her debut novel ‘Heartburn’. She considered it as much memoir as work of fiction, a declaration likely affirmed by her exhubby who did his legal best to keep ‘Heartburn’ from seeing publishing’s light of day.
I began writing this novel a few years before 9/11 shifted us into the world we inhabit now. In the years since typing ‘The End’ lots has happened and much of it good. I have three published books, all part of a series that sold well enough to establish me as a bona fide writer. Readers will learn more about my ‘home gardening’ series as this story progresses, a project I began in 1998, the summer before attending my first writers conference. That conference is also featured prominently in this story I’m about to tell you. ...
My publisher slotted SWEETSPOT: NOW and THEN in the romance, fantasy genres. I agree but must add Darlene's story is also 'coming of age' in midlife. While I know this isn't a defined genre, I also know that many readers, women especially, don't have the opportunity to 'come of age' in their youth. That phase postponed, they greet it in midlife and yes, it can be messy, much like this phase of life can be.
The author's decades' long experience working in mental health informs this story and all stories she tells.
Thanks for your consideration.
Marla