First Book, "The Sanctity of Love and War"
The writing of my first novel has
been quite a journey from the time I began almost two years ago. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about
myself. First off – I learned that I was
capable of completing a writing project that required so much time and effort. This, in and of itself, was a feat. Despite the joy of creating, it’s a challenge
to write at times, especially when the writer has a full time job that is not
writing. While I am not egotistical
enough to think that I’ve written a masterpiece, I am pleased that I was able
to see it through to its completion. In
fact, no one but me knew that I had previously attempted to write a novel. Back in college, I had a vision of a story
set in England during the early nineteenth century. I suppose the time and setting was dictated
by my love of one writer – Jane Austen – who, to this day, remains my literary
heroine. I got so far as writing an
outline for the book, filled with character descriptions and family trees. I even wrote a couple chapters. But, perhaps because of a lack of confidence
and vision (despite what I felt at the time was a vision), I eventually dropped
the project. Instead, I focused squarely
on setting my course in my chosen profession of counseling. Graduate school, followed by two more years of
schooling for further certification were the result of that choice. Six years in the drug and alcohol field and
then (and now) working in the field of school counseling kept (and keeps) me
pretty busy. In spite of this, the dream
of writing a book never left me.
Looking
back, I’m glad I didn’t finish writing that initial book. The timing wasn’t right. I needed to grow as a person in order to
write the kind of book I had always envisioned.
I have always been drawn to the 1940’s, in large part, as a result of
the connection I shared with my maternal grandparents. In college, I used my love of history to earn
a minor in the subject. For me, the
notion of combining the love I had for my grandparents with my love of history
seemed right. It indicated to me that my
goal would be to see my original dream of writing a book come true by creating
a compelling historical fiction novel set in a time that, while I didn’t
experience firsthand, had felt, nonetheless, real to me.
Every
one of our experiences leads us to where we are today. Every relationship – every love we’ve felt
and lost shapes and defines us. And, if
we are an open recipient to the world around us – including the past, we begin
to see our place in the universe a little differently. We begin to see that we’re more connected to
each other and the past than we ever imagined.
I’ve taken bits and pieces of my own self and relationships and chose to
weave a bit of them into the telling of this story through some of the
characters created in the book.
Obviously, I didn’t live during the 1940’s, but as the character of
Piper came to life, I felt I knew her innately and intuitively. This is not to say that I am Piper. In truth, I understood aspects of who she
was. The reality is I don’t think I’m
nearly as evolved as some of the characters of this book prove to be. In a way, I created certain characters who
modeled for me the kind of attitudes and beliefs I find noble and for which I
have tried (yet often failed) in my own life to ascribe to. As with each of us, I am still very much a
work in progress. This book, with its
lofty vision of spiritual redemption, is my attempt to make sense of the world
and my questioning of it.
