Come Rain or Shineย by Sarah Bennett is out today! ๐ฐ๐ท
Writers take inspiration from lots of places. A piece of art, a picture or post that catches your eye as you scroll through social media. A TV show or a song perhaps.
The backstory for my heroine in Come Rain or Shine came from an โagony auntโ column in a newspaper. A father had written in wanting advice on how to approach his daughter about being childless. As many young women do, sheโd previously expressed a desire for a family, and her father blamed a romantic disappointment for the fact she was now in her mid-30s, single and career-focused. Convinced that she would end up full of regrets, her father wanted to talk to her about freezing her eggs โbefore it was too lateโ. He seemed unable to envisage a happy future for her without children, and even though both his wife and his other daughter had told him not to broach the subject, so convinced was he that he knew what was best for her, he was writing to a stranger in a national newspaper for advice. To some, he would sound like the most caring of parents who only wants his child to be happy, but to me, he sounded like someone unable to accept his daughter was making different choices to what he wanted and expected. In his eyes, the only way his daughter could be a successful and complete person was by having a child.
That letter became the genesis of the backstory for the heroine in Come Rain or Shine. Tasha is successful and independent but is something of a failure in her motherโs eyes. She is unfavourably compared to her sister who is married and has children. The people who are closest to her make no effort to understand her choices, causing a sense of estrangement.
When I started writing romance, showing a heroine who was child-free by choice was not popular. I was warned of reader pushback, that some might read an implied criticism of their own choices, or think the heroine selfish and self-centred. As someone who made the decision not to have children, it left me conflicted. I lead a fulfilled and happy life โ why shouldnโt I see that reflected in the pages of a book?
There are many different types of happy endings, and I want to tell them all.