On Writing SweetSpot: Now and Then, by Marla Miller

By Marla Miller

When women talk about sex, some blush. Some don’t. In ‘SweetSpot: Now and Then, my protagonist blushes. Set in 1999, Darlene Robinson’s story ends one year later, bookended by a writer’s conference she attends in the spring of that year and returns to the following spring. We meet her in midlife. Mostly raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, as youngsters, Darlene and her husband were California dreaming. Eventually, a job offered by a tech company in northern California made their dream come true.  

Not every novel is rooted in an author’s reality. But for this author, my storytelling has to speak to some value/issue/norm I want to explore in long form. In the case of SweetSpot: Now and Then, when I first wrote this novel, I needed to explore that developmental phase called midlife, a time when youth fades and the unknown becomes scary. Loss is a major theme in midlife: aging parents, kids leaving the nest and marriages hitting the rocks. Passion can also be a hallmark of midlife and perhaps why the divorce rate spikes during this time. I believe fear is a motivating factor in the changes, sometimes sweeping, some people make in midlife. SweetSpot: Now and Then protagonist Darlene Robinson was one of them. 

By the time our protagonist met her husband for dinner in this story’s opening chapter, she’d had her fill. Something had to change. Though she was willing to face the unknown rather than continue living with a man in no need of her company, what she couldn’t know was what else awaited. A transformative year that began the night she announced to her husband of twenty-five plus years, she wanted out. 

Back to sex: For some, sex fosters intimacy. For others, it’s a satisfying release. Though Darlene Robinson would slot herself into the former group, intimacy was not considered when she made that declaration to her husband. Protecting her mental health was her only concern. Publishing a story that includes sex but isn’t about sex has its challenges, so it helps when other stories pop into the zeitgeist exploring what your story includes in its telling. ‘Dying For Sex‘ is a drama series getting great buzz since its recent premiere on Hulu. In the six-part series, viewers meet a woman in a traumatic time that ends with her death. Though married for several years when we meet her, the trigger that tripped off her ‘seeking sexual satisfaction’ journey? She knew so little about sex and didn’t want to die without knowing. ‘SweetSpot: Now and Then follows my protagonist through a transformative time and yes, sex is very much a part of her journey, too.

Slotted by my publisher in Fantasy and Romance genres, I include ‘coming of age’ in its promotion. Women’s lifestyle magazines have often labeled this time in a woman’s life as  ‘Reinvention.’  No matter, for some, midlife heralds in a significant shift. In her young years, Darlene Robinson did not have the chance to have her ‘coming of age.’  Instead, she helped her young husband come into his own. Had they lived a satisfying life together, issues that hit hard in midlife may not have hit as hard. But that’s not the story told in SweetSpot: Now and Then.

It took time to bring this story to publication though the bones were set almost fifteen years ago. When I opened the file, I liked it but something was missing, a perspective living through a major life crisis can sometimes bring and so I began weaving NOW snippets, delivered in first person, throughout SweetSpot: Now and Then.  My intention? Simply to say that over time, no one stays the same. 

Not entirely, anyway. 

(This NOW snippet (partial) opens SweetSpot: Now and Then)

NOW 

Dear Readers,  

When I first wrote ‘SweetSpot: Now and Then’ I didn’t consider it fiction, but it wasn’t my memoir either. Years ago, literary legend Norman Mailer defended the author that Oprah eviscerated on her show for fudging the facts in ‘A Million Little Pieces’ his memoir turned best seller once Oprah added it to her ‘Book Club’ list. Mr. Mailer said every memoirist must lie because no one’s life is that compelling, not even his own. His words struck a chord as did those spoken by Nora Ephron in an interview about her debut novel ‘Heartburn’. She considered it as much memoir as work of fiction, a declaration likely affirmed by her ex-hubby who did his legal best to keep ‘Heartburn’ from seeing publishing’s light of day.  

I began writing this novel a few years before 9/11 shifted us into the world we inhabit now. In the years since typing ‘The End’ lots has happened and much of it good. I have three published books, all part of a series that sold well enough to establish me as a bona fide writer. Readers will learn more about my ‘home gardening’ series as this story progresses, a project I began in 1998, the summer before attending my first writers conference. That conference is also featured prominently in this story I’m about to tell you.

 …

Marla Miller, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, segued into freelance writing during her children’s wonder years. Miller wrote for lifestyle magazines and became a founding editor-in-chief of one distributed along the ‘orange coast’ of California. Her first book, nonfiction, was published by Simon & Schuster. Her first e-novel, Deadly Little Secrets, was published in 2013. She teaches writing workshops through city colleges/programs and at writers’ conferences, including the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, where she found her literary voice. 

www.MarlaMiller.com  

SweetSpot: Now and Then

Spring 1999, California.
Call it middle-age madness or a midlife crisis, but SweetSpot: Now and Then chronicles one pivotal year in the life of Darlene Robinson, a woman grappling with hot flashes and the weight of being raised as a God-fearing good girl. She followed the rules… until she couldn’t anymore.
Just days before leaving for her first writers’ conference, Darlene makes a bold declaration to the man she married as a teenager: she wants out. Concerned for her mental health, she can no longer pretend to be the dutiful wife of a man who seems indifferent to her presence. Little did she know that the conference, her mother’s sudden illness, and meeting Clive Charles would all play a part in reshaping her life.

Back then, Darlene chronicled her transformative year shortly after living through it. Now, with time and experience, her “other self” offers a new perspective, adding depth to the story as only time can.

Call it what you will, but shifting one’s life in midlife is a journey many face, and Darlene believes SweetSpot: Now and Then will resonate deeply with readers.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing