Wednesday, January 15, 2014

On Writing Tear Jerkers by FOREVER LOVED author Deanna Roy


For my first 27 years, I was considered something of a Pollyanna — one of those bubbly ultra-optimistic people who spout platitudes about silver linings.

The first chink in my happy-armor becomes evident in the pictures from Christmas 1997. My then-husband and I had been trying to get pregnant since April, and I had envisioned that holiday as very different with a baby’s imminent arrival. But I had not made any progress at all, only a pile of negative home tests collecting in the bin.

I don’t even fake a smile. I’m just sort of there, my hair all twisted up in a knot, standing by a tree I felt forced to decorate.

I didn’t know that in this picture, I am actually a few days pregnant, and that I had no idea — really, no clue — what sorrow really was.

In the next five years I would see three babies die in various stages of pregnancy. I would also give birth to two daughters, both under stressful conditions that were a far cry from the happy moon-belly experiences we are sold in maternity magazines.

I was a writer long before I was a mother, and it was a natural fit to chronicle my experiences. As I became more involved in the baby loss community, I heard many more stories, and so often I would think — I could not have survived that.

But survive we do, and I think when choosing a tear-jerker book, it’s that same catharsis at the end. If you have endured a lot in your life, you can think to yourself — I understand what this character went through. You feel camaraderie, a connection with a fellow traveler. If the book takes you someplace darker than you’ve ever been, you can feel as though you have been lucky, that life has smiled on you. Either way, you leave the book feeling a little differently about your own existence.

I knew that the first book in my series, Forever Innocent, was going to wreck people. It’s hard to imagine how it feels to disconnect the ventilator from a seven-day-old baby, but this book takes you right there.

With the second book, Forever Loved, I hope to step a little bit away from the tragedy and focus on the healing. Early readers say you cry just as much, but for a different reason. Watching two people take a bad situation and turn it around is a different form of emotional release.

I am so grateful to have had so many companions on my journey. If you are a baby loss mom, you can meet them at A Place for Our Angels. Book fans can chatter at the Facebook Page for the series or on Goodreads. If you want to read excerpts as I write my books, join the mailing list.

I know now all our lives will include some sorrow. I hope that yours finds joy in equal measure.

Deanna

Forever Innocent, the first book of the series, is 99 cents through Jan. 24. The conclusion to the heart-wrenching story, Forever Loved, just arrived Jan. 10.

Book & Author Details:

Forever Loved by Deanna Roy
(The Forever Series #2)
Publication date: January 10th, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis: 
The much-anticipated sequel to the bestselling new adult romance Forever Innocent.

When Gavin saves Corabelle from her plunge into the frigid waters of the Pacific, he knows her recovery from pneumonia is only the beginning of their journey. They share a difficult history — a teen pregnancy, a seven-day-old baby who died of a heart condition, and his decision four years ago to leave Corabelle behind and not look back.

But there are no secrets between them now. As Gavin and Corabelle build a new future together, they learn to trust each other again, falling back on that love they have shared since they were children.

But their past has one last shocking surprise, a revelation that will shake their tender bond and pierce the heart of Corabelle, who has just begun to believe that she truly is Gavin’s only forever love.

Forever Loved is the heart-wrenching conclusion to Corabelle and Gavin’s passionate story.
HEA, 250 print pages


Purchase:
Book One -- Forever Innocent
On sale for 99 cents Jan. 12-24
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00FGHY0YO
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forever-innocent-deanna-roy/1116968528

Book Two -- Forever Loved
Release Date, Jan. 10
On sale for $2.99 through January 31
(Buy links will go up Jan. 10)


AUTHOR BIO 
Deanna Roy is a passionate advocate for women who have lost babies. She founded PregnancyLoss.Info in 1998 and runs many online and in-person support groups. She is the author of several two-hankie reads, including Forever Innocent, Stella & Dane, and Baby Dust.

Author links: 


(Open internationally):
--A $50 gift card and a butterfly box full of books and swag.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway



 

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