I love
Thanksgiving. I love the process of being grateful, of remembering my blessings
and offering thanks for them. I believe in gratitude as a way of life because
it elevates us in consciousness, and Thanksgiving is a holiday devoted to this path.
While I was
writing THE YEAR OF LOVING, I had to include Thanksgiving because it’s such an
important holiday. But it’s more than that in the context of this novel. It’s
also an opportunity for Sarah Paige, the art gallerist who is the protagonist,
to take stock of her life and to reach for gratitude even when her world is
crumbling.
Sarah’s
life is a mess. That’s by design. I believe that one definition of “story,” a
useful definition for a novelist, is that “Story is how your protagonist does
NOT get what he or she wants.” Constructing a good story is a process of
creating obstacles and conflicts that thwart the protagonist and force the
protagonist to grow.
Sarah wants
good relationships with her daughters, a thriving art gallery, and a happy love
life. What she grapples with is a daughter who doesn’t speak to her and one who
is off the rails in trouble, a gallery that is foundering, and a love triangle
involving two men—an older man and a younger man. She also wants her beloved
best friend Trudi to recover from cancer.
Thanksgiving
comes and Sarah takes a close look at her life. But I tried to write this
seamlessly, so it doesn’t stick out like an out-of-key note in a song. Sarah
texts her daughters, wishing them a happy holiday, and only one of them
responds. She understands how deeply their father has alienated them from her,
their mother, and she aches.
Sarah goes
to Trudi’s house for turkey dinner and she sees clearly that Trudi is ailing.
Her dear friend of many decades isn’t doing well with chemotherapy.
Sarah then
takes a cab to the older man’s place for dessert with him and his adult
children. They make her feel welcomed and included, but she realizes that she
and Carl are at different points in their life. Sarah is still in the thick of
trial and tribulation, while Carl has come through to the other side.
On her way
home, she bumps into the younger man, with whom she broke up a few weeks prior.
Scott is accompanied by a lovely young woman and Sarah awakens to the fact that
she’s jealous—she still has feelings for Scott.
With all of
this travail in her life, Sarah still manages to reach for joy and gratitude.
And isn’t that the mark of inner strength? Isn’t that how we learn to
accommodate the unpredictability and the hardships of life?
Sarah is
grateful for the adorable new puppy in her life. She’s happy that at least one
daughter texted back. She’s cognizant of, and thankful for, the hospitality
extended to her. She perks up when she grabs up a book about Renaissance
painter Fra Angelico, because she loves art and that love nourishes her.
In the
context of THE YEAR OF LOVING and also, I think, in life, Thanksgiving can be a
time of taking stock, focusing on the good, and being uplifted by what we love
and are grateful for.
The Year of Loving
Traci L. Slatton
Genre: Commercial women’s fiction
Publisher: Parvati Press
Date of Publication: October 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-942523-06-2 (print)
eBook 978-1-942523-07-9
ASIN: Coming Soon
Number of pages: 360
Word Count: 114,000
Cover Artist: Brandi Doan McCann
Book Description:
Art gallerist Sarah Paige’s world is crumbling. One daughter barely speaks to her and the other is on the rails. Sarah is struggling to keep her gallery afloat in a tough market. Then she learns that her most beloved friend has cancer. In the midst of her second divorce, two men come into her life: an older man who offers companionship and stability, and an exciting younger man whose life is as chaotic as hers.
Sarah’s courage and spirit strengthen her, but how much can she bear, and what sustains her when all else falls away? Sarah finds herself on a journey that tests her more than she could ever have imagined.
About the Author:
Traci L. Slatton is the international bestselling author of historical, paranormal, and romantic novels, including IMMORTAL (BantamDell) and BROKEN; the award-winning dystopian After Series which includes FALLEN, COLD LIGHT, FAR SHORE and BLOOD SKY; the bittersweet romantic comedy THE LOVE OF MY (OTHER) LIFE; and the vampire art history romp THE BOTTICELLI AFFAIR. She has also published the lyrical poetry collection DANCING IN THE TABERNACLE and THE ART OF LIFE, a photo-essay about figurative sculpture through the ages. Her book PIERCING TIME and SPACE explores the meeting ground of science and spirituality.
Twitter: @tracilslatton
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