How Summers Away Helped Me Find My Creativity

During the summer of the pandemic, many of us city-dwellers were trying to flee the cramped towers of downtown for the sprawling landscapes of the countryside, and I was no exception. Stepping into my partner’s family’s rustic cottage on the North Bruce Peninsula felt like an exhale of relief. That summer was a turning point in my life. I’d finally made it past a major work milestone that had me studying for a year in a cramped condo, and as a reward I had promised myself I would do something for me. Something creative. Something where there was no wrong answer. 

I’d always been a voracious reader, ever since I was six years old and was allowed to go to the chapter book section of my elementary school. I devoured books to the point where I spent my recesses in the library. Eventually, I even started writing my own stories, first scrawled in illegible handwriting across my various notebooks and later on fictionpress. 

As I went through university and further schooling and started a demanding career, I continued reading greedily, but my writing fell by the wayside. Those long afternoons crafting fanfiction or short stories were distant memories. Part of it was lack of time, and part of it was that I wondered if anyone would even want to read my stories. Over time, I became more aware that the books I had been reading never seemed to feature a main character like me, a second generation immigrant. I was convinced that my voice wouldn’t have broader audience appeal and decided to tuck my creativity away. But my love of reading never faded. 

Though I didn’t always see diverse people represented, I still loved the books I read and I still connected with the characters. There is much in common in the human experience after all and I really believe reading is an act of empathy. What makes reading joyful to me is being taken on a character’s journey and relating to emotions and motivations. And during my years away from writing the landscape had changed. Authors like Nisha Sharma, Farah Heron and Saumya Dave broke into the scene and I took inspiration from their ability to channel their own experiences and identity into their writing. Thinking about a main character who shared my identities made my brain whirl. I could delve into the richness of my own experiences and those of my friends. This made it easy to know who my characters would be in my debut. But then I needed more, what would be the plot and the engine moving the story forward? My brain needed space for my imagination to roam for this book to come to life. 

Weeks of being locked in a tiny condo had made my world feel small and stifled. Being at the cottage felt like taking a breath of fresh air, despite my florid seasonal allergies. Here I didn’t have my desk and stack of textbooks glaring at me. Instead, I had cozy blankets, the soft chirp of the birds and the lap of the lake on the dock welcoming me. The summer breeze gently coaxed my tired mind to relax and as it did, the wells of creativity began to bubble. 

At the cottage, as my nose grew more and more stuffed from some sort of secret allergen—my brain wanted to be a cottage girl but my body prefers pollution to pollen—I spent more and more time out on the lake. The water was blue and clean and safe from whatever vegetation seemed intent on making my nose run and eyes water. I knew my story followed a couple, one that had fallen in love and then were torn apart, but I didn’t know where I wanted to put them. But then, on one lazy afternoon in the paddle boat an idea struck. Two teenagers, chattering away on the water. 

I then proceeded to do the same to my partner, letting him know of my stroke of genius. His vote of confidence emboldened me; I was going to write this book. 

The cottage was filled with memorabilia of my partner growing up, of his parents, of his grandparents. A physical setting that seemed to represent their relationships with each other. Travel limitations during the pandemic had prevented me from seeing my family as much as I had hoped that year, and being surrounded by my partner’s family made me reflect on my own. 

I spent the first eight years of my life growing up in rural British Columbia in a town with a population of two thousand. After, we moved to Edmonton while my father owned a small business in a hamlet an hour and a half from where we lived, and during the summers I would often join him at work. My childhood was defined by movement between the city and rural living. As an adult, I moved across the country to cities in Montreal, Alberta, and Toronto. This dichotomy between small town and big city life was something I’d always reflected on. What does it mean to be successful? And what does it mean to be a good family member? Are you abandoning your home if you leave? 

The characters in The Summers Between Us are manifestations of that question, wrapped in a story of second chance romance. My hope was to explore two people who make mistakes as they grow up and are discovering who they are and who have the capacity to be open to forgiving each other and themselves. 

The space for this deep thinking, about plot, about character and about myself and my own journey would not have been possible if not for the time spent on the dock or on the boat in Pike Bay, Ontario. A break from the city, and from the pressures of never-ending notifications and to-do lists helped me find my creativity again and embrace my own voice. I can’t wait till my next summer away from the city and the story that journey will take me on. 

—

NOREEN NANJA is a Toronto-based contemporary romance writer. A second-generation immigrant from the Indian diaspora, Noreen’s writing explores themes of identity, race and belonging, wrapped in stories of romantic and familial love. Noreen studied Psychology and English Literature at McGill University, received her MD from the University of Calgary, and now practices as a pediatric neurologist. She was the Editor-Writer Romance Mentee in 2022. When she is not writing or reading, she can be found spending time with her partner and their adorable dog and exploring local bookstores. Learn more about Noreen’s life and work at: www.noreennanja.com 

THE SUMMERS BETWEEN US

A decade apart, a painful secret—can two childhood sweethearts find their way back to a love that defies cultures and time?

Lia Juma thought she’d buried the dreams of her heart long ago. But when she’s forced to return to her family’s summer cottage on Pike Bay, the life she’s carefully crafted begins to unravel. The perfect immigrant daughter, Lia has carved out a successful career as a corporate lawyer and has just started dating a man who fulfills all her mother’s criteria for the ideal son-in-law. But underneath her polished life lies a secret she’s never spoken of—one she fears could have destroyed her family a decade ago.

Back at the bay, Lia stumbles upon memories she thought were long forgotten and, at the centre of it all, is Wesley Forest—the boy she left behind, the boy who knew her dreams better than anyone. Their friendship and young love once burned bright, woven through long sun-drenched days and whispered promises of a future together. But when family pressures and heartbreak pulled the two lovers apart, they were forced to follow separate paths.

Now, Wes is back in her life, and with him, old wounds and feelings surface. As the two confront the choices and secrets that divided them as teenagers, Lia must decide if she can heal from the past and finally embrace the life and love she’s always craved. Could a second chance with Wes be worth risking everything for?

Told over the course of five years in the past and one summer in the present, Lia will discover that sometimes, the only way forward is through the heart’s deepest scars.

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips