The Challenge

“I challenge you,” my husband said one afternoon last July.  Challenge?  He continued.  “…To write a book in six weeks.”  Mind you, I only started writing that January for the first time ever in my life.  This challenge would be my third manuscript, but anytime I’m challenged, a fire of determination ignites me.  I accepted his challenge, adamant that I would succeed.  Moments after accepting his dare I opened a new document, set my header with the date “7/8/17,” and proceeded to stare at the screen.

What do I write?  I thought.  Prior to this day (weeks before, actually) I was daydreaming about a divorced mom and her girlfriends in a club one afternoon.  The friends were laughing and gabbing about men while the divorced friend sat silent, showing no interest in the topic.  And then she was asked to dance.  Through the encouragement and firm nudging from her friends, she danced with the handsome gentleman.  And that’s when I thought: there’s a story here.

The topic of divorce had permeated my life over the last several years.  As I supported close friends, it marred me in the process.  There is no way to escape the emotional heartache of an ending marriage and the sobbing tears of someone you love.  It will change you.  It will haunt your dreams.  But eventually, the scars fade, the tears dry, and a future filled with hope and love is revealed.

“Vivir Mi Vida”

When I begin a new story there are three things I do: name my heroine, find her face in Google images, and select a song that reflects her and the tone of her story.  I found Marie’s story in the song, “Vivir Mi Vida” which translates as, “Live My Life.”  Living life was Marie’s nemesis.  Two years had passed since her divorce, freeing herself from her verbally abusive husband, and yet she hid within the walls of the fortress she erected around herself.  Marie feared being hurt and rejected again.  The impact of her ex-husband’s infidelity and poisonous words even after her divorce left her believing no one would ever want her or love her.  So Marie stopped living her life.  She hurt herself and her relationship with her son.  They both were just going through the motions, devoid of laughter and dancing and joy, ultimately stuck in a suffocating fortress, keeping them from moving forward.

“Vivir Mi Vida” is something we all do each and every day…we live our life…whether good or bad, with or without love, or recovering from a stormy divorce that leaves you insecure and filled with fear, like Marie.  The song says: You only live once.  It took Marie’s three closest friends to coax her out of her fortress, as only they could do, and is she ever glad they did!

My Muses

Music, along with my muse, Marie, filled my life with purpose and meaning while I typed away at my computer bringing The One That Matters to life.  I created this playlist that motivated and carried me through to the completion of my manuscript.  Most are Latin songs, and rightly so, since Marie and I are both Latina.  The rhythm of the drums, bongos, horns, and lyrics guided me through the story like a beacon in the black of night as I floated and bobbed over waves, gaining strength and skill as I moved towards the shore–my destination of completion.  Each song was selected specifically for a scene or a mood, and you will find their essence throughout the book.  It’s glorious!  

The women who have walked through the hell that is divorce are the strongest women I know.  Even at their lowest moments, full of insecurity about the future, they get up each day and do what needs to be done.  They are selfless, loving women who have cried far too many tears from the exhaustion and grief they endured along the painful road they traveled.  I have lived their struggles with them–cried with them, and encouraged them.  Their agonizing pain constantly threatened to hold them back, keeping them from their daily battle to move forward.  They are beautiful and amazing and my ultimate muse for The One That Matters.

The One That Matters began as a challenge that I won in more ways than one after completing the manuscript in only thirty-nine days.  This is my debut novel…the first of many.  What a ride I never imagined to be on!  I invite you to join me!

~Elle Linder