Female Connection And Inspiration
Writers are often asked: “What was the inspiration for your book?” and their responses are, not surprisingly, all over the map. Some writers take their inspiration from a specific place or event. For others, it comes from something they read or watch. I’ve even heard of a few that were inspired by a particular smell.
The truth is, inspiration can be found everywhere and anywhere. A fact that is especially true for those of us that write contemporary fiction because the real world around us is also the world our own stories exist in.
The inspiration for my debut novel CAN’T TAKE IT BACK came from one of the most important aspects of my own life – my female friendships. As a married woman with kids and a career, I have had my share of difficult times. From arguments with my husband to lost jobs to feeling like a failure as a mother, there was always one place I knew I could turn to for support and encouragement. My friends.
I had always loved the idea of writing a novel that celebrated these friendships but after several starts and stops, I hadn’t yet found the right story or the perfect character.
And then Holly appeared.
My family and I were on our annual summer vacation and I was sitting on the deck, early in the morning before anyone else was up, looking out at the calm lake and she popped into my head and clearly spoke the first line of the book to me.
“It’s easy to miss when love changes,” Holly said and I frantically started writing before I lost her words.
As I wrote, I realized Holly was a lot like me. Around the same age, married with two kids with a stressful life that was taking a toll on her and her marriage. I knew she was going to take a journey where she would face many challenges (otherwise why would anyone want to read the book) but I also knew she wouldn’t have to face these difficult moments alone. Holly would have support every step of the way. Support in the form of her female friends.
Just like that, Avery, Zoe and Sasha appeared and my first-person narrative became a multiple POV story about four friends each facing a crossroads and helping each other deal with the implications of their choices.
As the story developed I realized that while I had put a little bit of myself in each of the characters, they were, on the whole, a hybrid of the people all around me. Women I knew in real life and women I had ‘met’ in books and on TV shows.
From the beginning of the first draft of CAN’T TAKE IT BACK, I walked a fine line between using the world around me as a launching point for a novel and using my own life as the storyline with just a few fictional elements thrown in for good measure. I had to learn just how to separate fiction from reality without losing sight of my larger goal; to write a novel that celebrated the complex bond of female friendships.
Now that my book is out in the world, I don’t get the “What was your inspiration?” question as much anymore. Instead, I get asked, “What do you hope readers feel after finishing it?”
More than anything I hope my readers connect with my characters and find their stories real and relatable. I want them to feel like one of the group. Like they could join Holly, Sasha, Avery and Zoe for a glass of wine and—without fear of being judged or shamed—share their innermost thoughts and feelings.
It is that female connection and bond, the one that allows us to lean on each other for support no matter what life throws at us, that served as my inspiration for this book. And I hope that message resonates with readers long after they finished it.
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CAN’T TAKE IT BACK
A perfect next listen for fans of Abbi Waxman and Katherine Center, Can’t Take It Back is a charming and relatable debut telling the interconnected stories of four women over the course of a kindergarten school year.
Huddled on their favorite park bench in a quiet Seattle suburb, Holly, Avery, Zoe, and Sasha might look like they’ve got it all figured out – but there’s more to their stories than meets the eye. When Avery’s husband Carter suggests they open up their marriage, she’s shocked and appalled – but could this new arrangement be the breath of fresh air she never knew she needed? Zoe and Aaron, whose connection has long been the standard by which their friends measure their own relationships, feel that their lives are taking them in different directions, but worry over how a divorce might affect their two young boys. Zoe turns to her best friend Holly for guidance, but as it turns out, this year has tested her own marriage to Jake in ways neither of them ever anticipated. And meanwhile, Holly’s sister Sasha – the no-nonsense PR executive and eternally single girl of the group – must decide if joining the ranks of motherhood is the right step for her.
Captivating and immersive, Can’t Take It Back is a deeply emotional novel that celebrates the complex bond of female friendships.
Author Bio:
Kelly Duran writes contemporary women’s fiction and her debut novel—CAN’T TAKE IT BACK— released on April 16, 2020, as an Audible Original. Kelly lives in Vancouver, BC and when not writing or reading, can be found spending time with her husband and two daughters with—depending on the time of day—either a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in her hand. Learn more about her at bykellyduran.com and follow her on Twitter & Instagram at @bykellyduran.
Buy link:
Audible.com: audible.com/CantTakeItBack
Social media links:
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Website: https://bykellyduran.com/
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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I loved your story about hearing Holly’s voice. The character Holly spoke the line, and you wrote it down. That happened to me too, with my most recent book. I’d been reading all these stories about Victorian women artists–how men would make fun of them, or break their paintbrushes, or how their mothers would PAY the art tutors to discourage them (no joke)–and so Annabel was taking shape in my head. And then one day, she spoke, and I wrote it down; it became the first line. It’s sort of magical, isn’t it? I write historical fiction/suspense, but I’m always up for a book about women friendships, so I have just ordered yours. Have you read the memoir She Matters: A Life in Friendships by S. Sonnenberg? It might be of interest. It received uneven reviews, but it spoke to me. All the best, stay safe and healthy.