Sunny Alexander's Blog: Notable Quotes: Flowers from Iraq

The Girls: A Different Kind of Love Story, available on Amazon as a free Kindle Edition March 11-15.
I believe that every author has a muse to guide them on their creative journey. While the origin of my inspiration remains a mystery, I would like to share how my novel, "The Girls," came to be.
It was 2011, and I was at that early stage of writing when there are no words, just an occasional idea swirling around.
I kept thinking about the role of women in our culture: our vulnerabilities and our strengths. I felt the collective pain of oppression, until one day, a woman appeared in my mind's eye to tell me her story.
The channel had opened, and in the following weeks and months, seven women told me about how they overcame injustice to have a life well-lived.
As their stories flourished, I saw them banding together to love, fight, and support each other despite—or perhaps because of—their differences.
The Girls: A Different Kind of Love Story.
The Girls

Sunny Alexander
The Girls

It was Char’s mysterious smile that continued to grab at Em’s heart. The smile filled with secrets—funny secrets meant to surprise, sad secrets about a past hurt, unresolved secrets known only after her death.
Always a secret, always a secret, she thought as unexpected tears welled up. She stifled a sob and wondered does it ever go away? Now, years later, Em followed her nightly ritual. She kissed her finger and touched the portrait, gathering strength from the woman who gave her friendship when she was friendless, hope when she felt hopeless, and love when she thought love didn’t exist.

Flowers from Iraq
Sunny Alexander

Kathleen:

Kathleen felt the familiar longings to be in a relationship, to have what others had: someone to love, someone to love her. Was there anyone who could love her?

Claire:

Sometimes, at the mall or in a park, Claire would watch an older couple walking hand in hand, supporting each other after a lifetime of being together. Perhaps the phrase “and they lived happily ever after” should be changed to “and they loved ever after.”
After all, wasn’t it the love that would keep the happiness in a relationship?

Helen:
Helen was born into an ordinary family, was raised in an ordinary, mid-sized city, and thought of herself as ordinary. She did admit to having one unusual talent. She was a born matchmaker. Helen considered her matchmaking skills to be a gift from God and could, therefore, remain comfortable in her perception of being ordinary.

Sunny AlexanderAs a child, I spent warm summer days stretched out on the front lawn, my knees bent, and a book between my hands. From time to time, I would study white clouds, whose shapes revealed my fanciful wishes.

Time and space vanished. I could ride on the back of the Black Stallion, or, while reading Lassie Come Home, imagine that one day, a puppy would find its way into my arms. Tears of empathy followed the soulful stories of Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe. When I read The Count of Monte Cristo, I waded through my childlike wishes for revenge and felt them dissolve upon discovering that seeking revenge was only an empty means of avoiding grief.

Now, I write novels and wonder if the reader will discover their Lessons Learned but Not Forgotten.