The Story Behind the Story: Golden State
The idea for Golden State came to me quite out of the blue while taking a walk with friends on New Year’s Eve 2007. It had been a year since I’d received the correct diagnosis for what had been torturing me from within for nine years. Reflecting back on a time that is happily in the review mirror, I get glimpses of why being inspired by a conversation with my friend was such a momentous occasion.
Writing—what I’d turned to seven years earlier as a means of coping with the pain—had to be abandoned because I was physically unable to sit for hours at my laptop. I’d gotten to the point that I couldn’t even do it for fifteen minutes at a time. The pain was completely overwhelming. Looking back, I can’t fathom how I managed my “real job”. But the alternative methods of treating late-stage Lyme had robbed me of my one solace. By the end of 2007, I had abandoned two novels, one at 75,000 words. To say I was hanging on by a thread would not be overstating it.
As my body struggled, my psyche gradually healed to the point that when my friend regaled me with tales of mutual acquaintances who were bravely chasing success in the real estate profession, my pent-up imagination went wild. In a matter of seconds, I saw it all unfold in my mind’s eye. Roxanne Platt is a thirty-something single mom who struggles valiantly but without grace as a cashier at bargain grocery store and has become nearly despondent from the mind-numbing tedium. She is so open to a way out that becoming a real estate agent during the collapse of the housing market doesn’t even register.
What Roxanne sees is a lifeline. She grabs it, digging in with her heels and turning a pair of deaf ears to anyone who doubts she has the right stuff.
Because I worked in the mortgage industry, I was required to have a real estate license. My profession was wedded to real estate sales, so luckily for me, I knew the ins and outs, the pluses and pitfalls of the real estate world. Where I channeled Roxanne, I have no idea. She popped into my head, fully-formed, daunting attitude securely intact. She’s my anti-heroine and I had a blast watching her in action. The fire she walks through hones her instincts and melts away the rough edges. She is at such a low point in her life, failing isn’t an option.
From this vantage point, I can see a correlation between Roxanne’s situation and what I was going through. I had no conscious appreciation of this as I wrote the book; Roxanne was escapism for me, plain and simple. It gave me hope that Lyme had not robbed me of everything. I had recovered enough to pound the keys and complete a 135K-word novel in a year’s time. I was down, but I wasn’t out…not yet.
Aside from being a saving grace, Golden State turned out to be a fun romp with a slightly garish ray of hope. The underlying message—if there is one—is that we are capable of transforming our lives, even when we’re so down we can’t see a way out.
Golden State is available for FREE downloading July 14th and 15th. Grab your ereader and indulge in a little summer escapism!
****Correction: Due to a scheduling snafu, Golden State will now be available for FREE downloading July 15th and 16th.
Happy reading!
Until next time,
Warmest regards,
Cynthia
Writing—what I’d turned to seven years earlier as a means of coping with the pain—had to be abandoned because I was physically unable to sit for hours at my laptop. I’d gotten to the point that I couldn’t even do it for fifteen minutes at a time. The pain was completely overwhelming. Looking back, I can’t fathom how I managed my “real job”. But the alternative methods of treating late-stage Lyme had robbed me of my one solace. By the end of 2007, I had abandoned two novels, one at 75,000 words. To say I was hanging on by a thread would not be overstating it.
As my body struggled, my psyche gradually healed to the point that when my friend regaled me with tales of mutual acquaintances who were bravely chasing success in the real estate profession, my pent-up imagination went wild. In a matter of seconds, I saw it all unfold in my mind’s eye. Roxanne Platt is a thirty-something single mom who struggles valiantly but without grace as a cashier at bargain grocery store and has become nearly despondent from the mind-numbing tedium. She is so open to a way out that becoming a real estate agent during the collapse of the housing market doesn’t even register.
What Roxanne sees is a lifeline. She grabs it, digging in with her heels and turning a pair of deaf ears to anyone who doubts she has the right stuff.
Because I worked in the mortgage industry, I was required to have a real estate license. My profession was wedded to real estate sales, so luckily for me, I knew the ins and outs, the pluses and pitfalls of the real estate world. Where I channeled Roxanne, I have no idea. She popped into my head, fully-formed, daunting attitude securely intact. She’s my anti-heroine and I had a blast watching her in action. The fire she walks through hones her instincts and melts away the rough edges. She is at such a low point in her life, failing isn’t an option.
From this vantage point, I can see a correlation between Roxanne’s situation and what I was going through. I had no conscious appreciation of this as I wrote the book; Roxanne was escapism for me, plain and simple. It gave me hope that Lyme had not robbed me of everything. I had recovered enough to pound the keys and complete a 135K-word novel in a year’s time. I was down, but I wasn’t out…not yet.
Aside from being a saving grace, Golden State turned out to be a fun romp with a slightly garish ray of hope. The underlying message—if there is one—is that we are capable of transforming our lives, even when we’re so down we can’t see a way out.
Golden State is available for FREE downloading July 14th and 15th. Grab your ereader and indulge in a little summer escapism!
****Correction: Due to a scheduling snafu, Golden State will now be available for FREE downloading July 15th and 16th.
Happy reading!
Until next time,
Warmest regards,
Cynthia
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Ann
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Jul 15, 2018 05:59AM
I love reading about the connection to your health and can totally relate. Writing was also a way for me to push away the gloom of Lyme. Looking forward to reading another of your wonderful books, Cynthia!
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You are so kind, Ann! I've been thinking about what you went through with Lyme and how that coincided with everything else you went through. It is so interesting that we both have dealt with Alzheimer's and Lyme. I know that our trials only make us stronger and for that I'm grateful. I'm also grateful they are in the rearview mirror!
It's amazing that you could have written anything going through that pain! You're courageous! As you well know by now, I love reading all of the stories behind the writing of stories in novel form! Thanks again for publishing these to give all writers inspiration and courage!!
Thank you, Nina for your kind words! And for reading all the posts! I'm just so fascinated by the writing process and where fellow writers find their inspiration. I think the one thing we all have in common is our love for the written word. Stories allow us to enter someone else's world, to walk in their shoes and see how they deal with the complexities of life. Thanks for being such an inspiration yourself!
