Recently, I was honored to be on Southern Writers Magazine’s must reads list. Gary Fearon graciously alerted me and I hit his link. Penning and marketing a book is still an unexplored territory for me. Seeing my cover beside a blog by Patricia Sands regarding her message in The Bridge Club, put a lump in my throat.
Three years ago, when I approached my writing coach/editor, Shari Stauch, with my story idea— without hesitation she pushed me to my laptop to learn my character’s voice.
Like Patricia, I didn’t write the book with publishing in mind. I wanted to scratch writing a novel off my bucket list. And, I’ve always marveled at how life throws twists and turns. I’ve learned if I keep a sense of humor, there is usually a serendipitous ending. Our concern was ‘could a book focusing on women bonding’ vs. ‘a book with cat fights and mean girls’ be embraced? I’m a lover of Peace signs and patchouli. So, I went with the first idea. I wanted to capture the essence of women who have a magnificent ability to find deep bonds in spite of their diverse walks of life.
Who did SWM display my book next to? I read the blog and my jaw opened at each paragraph. Here is one of my favorite parts of Patricia’s blog: “It was life I wanted to write about. The strong supportive non-judgmental bond, which the true friendship of women delivers: like that of my Bridge Club. My editor urged that readers want to see conflict and drama between women. I argued this is a stereotype often applied to women and their friendships and I refused to fall prey to it. Often friendships are true, honest, and strong. Often the issues we face in life do work out. That was the story I wished to tell.”
So, with that said, I hope readers of Ameera Unveiled find the same amazing message as the characters find each other through an advertisement to learn belly dancing. I blow all of you kisses with glitter!
What a wonderful statement about bonding! It put a lump in my throat, too 🙂 And thanks for the glittery kisses…we can never have enough of those 🙂
You are a deep and wonderful person that I’ve had the privilege of forging a bond through the love of words… and powerful spirit.
Love this and the emphasis on the POSITIVE aspect of women bonding 🙂
I have a ton of great bonds with women… and men. Not looking for a role on any Real Housewives! Can’t even come up with a tag line!
Just finished reading ‘Ameera Unveiled,’ and one of the things I really liked was your way of showing the circle of supportive women friends. As you say, too many stories about women show them as always trying to cut each other down. It’s refreshing to read a story of how they hold each other up.
That seems to be the same type of feedback I’m getting. I think it could be mistakenly considered a light girly story, but if really chewed on it sends lots of messages regarding how women have always had a way of knitting together. 🙂