Finding The Story

I have been asked from time-to-time where I get ideas for stories. I wish I could say that I get one spark of inspiration and poof! A plot and characters are in my head. For me, stories evolve from a whiff of an idea and grow over time as I start imagining the characters: who are these people, where do they live, what are their challenges, what are their dreams? My characters seem to take over and dictate the story, and I end with a tale I didn’t plan.

While writing my first book, Degrees of Love, I was already thinking about Ten Thousand I Love Yous. In Degrees, my protagonist struggles with an unhappy marriage that leads her to having an affair, something she thought she would never do. Writing fight scenes and emotional truths about the Sinclair marriage left me drained at times. To lighten things up, I started playing around with the idea of writing a Romantic Comedy about a woman in her late thirties starting over after a divorce. I wanted her to have been a teenage mother and for her and her daughter to look like sisters. She’d move to a big city and pretend to be in her twenties. There’d be hilarious moments with my heroine trying to fit in with a younger crowd and mistaken identities between her and her daughter.

I sketched out a few scenes and started plotting the storyline when a couple of things happened. First the television show Younger, based on the book by Pamela Redmond Satran and produced by none other than Darren Star, aired on TV Land. I thought, “Hey, that’s my plot. Darn, someone else beat me to it!”  The other gamechanger was that I really started thinking about what it would be like to be a teenage mother and marrying your high school sweetheart.

I remembered growing up in a small farm community, many classmates and extended family married straight out of high school and started having children right away. In some areas, this would be considered unusual, but where I grew up, there was nothing shocking about it. Not all pairings ended well, but most couples I know have had successful lives and strong marriages. Marrying young doesn’t have to be a recipe for disaster. It can create deep-rooted bonds.

I also considered my own marriage. My husband and I were college sweethearts and married the day before we graduated college; not as young Jay and Kimberly in Ten Thousand I Love Yous, but young by today’s standards. No one can make us angrier or hurt us more than each other. This is true partly because we know each other so well and partly because we love each other so deeply. 

Percolating along with these musings was a desire to continue exploring themes of love and following one’s own path to happiness. But whereas Degrees follows the journey of a woman seeking happiness in an unhappy marriage, I thought it would be interesting to explore how a woman in a presumably fulfilling marriage gets back to happy after being blindsided with a divorce and what would prompt a good man to leave abruptly.

Out of all these jumbled musings, Jay and Kim emerged, urging me to pen their truths. Ten Thousand I Love Yous is the result. Not the women-done-wrong Romantic Comedy I originally envisioned, but still laced with humor and a love story, nonetheless.

___________

Ten Thousand I Love Yous is Lisa Slabach’s second novel. Prior to publication, her first novel, Degrees of Love was recognized as a Best Book of 2014 by Kirkus Review.  Degrees made its publishing debuted December 1, 2017 and was nominated for a 2017 Reviewer’s Choice Award by RT Book Reviews.

Find out more about Lisa on her website https://www.lisaslabach.com/

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/LisaSlabach

TEN THOUSAND I LOVE YOUS, Lisa Slabach

In this humorously touching novel by the critically acclaimed author of Degrees of Love, a woman is blindsided when her high school sweetheart abandons her after eighteen years of marriage.

At sixteen, Kimberly Kirby thought the only thing she needed to be perfectly happy was to spend the rest of her life with Jay Braxton. Twenty years later, she still believes it. As they proudly watch their daughter, Haley, graduate from high school, she imagines her life is as perfect as anyone could reasonably expect. Jay is a formidable attorney, she a freelance writer, and their love as strong as ever. With Haley heading to UC Berkeley in the fall, Kimberly fantasizes about making love on the kitchen table. She has no clue that Jay’s bags are already packed.

Now divorced and determined to squelch her love for Jay, she accepts a gig writing a sex and dating blog for divorcees. As the Virgin Dater, she is on the hunt for love. No-strings-attached nights with a sexy fireman and moving to San Francisco are just what she needs to boost her battered ego and mend her shattered heart.

But just as she falls hard for a talented young chef, Jay fights to win her back. Torn between her bold new life and the comfort of Jay’s strong arms, she questions if there is too much to forgive. The ten thousand I love yous that had passed Jay’s lips can’t be dismissed, but nor can her newfound freedom and the knowledge that her happiness doesn’t depend on Jay.

“A sweet and witty work of romance, Ten Thousand I Love Yous is a relatable book about never being too old to redefine yourself. This tale will be immediately recognizable for anyone who’s faced getting back in the dating game after a long-term relationship, but Kimberley’s trials and successes are relatable for any reader. Kimberly is an adorable, kindhearted, and intelligent lead, and readers will enjoy rooting for her to find happiness.” Self-Publishing Review

From Readers’ Favorite 5 FIVE STAR Reviews:

This story pulled at every single one of my heartstrings and I often found myself being so involved in the story that I would find myself crying and whooping for joy on Kimberly’s behalf: —5 Stars, Cayla-Paige Nortje

If you’re itching for some relationship-drama or women-centric romance, Ten Thousand I Love Yous is just the book for you—5 Stars, Pikasho Deka

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