Hi Everyone! I am excited to be here today with a guest post from Sheri Langer. I had a chance to ask about what inspired her book and I think you will find the guest post very entertaining! You may even decide to buy an early Valentine or to treat yourself to the book!
(Note: not an affliate link, just helping to get the word out!)
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We all have dreams. As a child, mine was to have long
polished fingernails, a sparkly diamond ring, a husband, kids, and a puppy. It
was my firm belief that my children would be the luckiest on earth because I
would love them beyond reason. My only other wish was to be a movie star,
admired by all.
We all have dreams that change. As a child I loved movies,
especially the ones where sultry, stunning actresses had to do nothing but
stand in a room to have every man in sight desire them. Their allure was
disarming and enviable and as I got older, I wanted to be one of them. As a
teen, it became somewhat painfully obvious that a 5’2”, very bosomy, bottle-
blonde was not exactly the ingenue Hollywood was banging down doors to find. I
still watched movies with palpable yearning, but as a matter of practicality, I
knew I would have to switch gears.
We all have dreams that change us. I went to college because
I had no choice but to graduate and be a “something.” I had given up my dreams
of being an actress and so I returned to my most organic desire -to be a wife
and a mother. My first serious boyfriend didn’t feel ready to comply with my
wishes and broke up with me. Shortly after, I met the guy I believed was Mr.
Right. He transferred to my school so we could be together. It was all very
romantic in the screenplay I was writing in my head.
We all have dreams that work-until they confuse us. We got married. I went for my MA in English
Ed so I could actually be a “something.” I loved words. The problem was I
didn’t want to be a teacher or a journalist. I didn’t want to be anything that
required punching a time clock or reporting to a boss. I wanted to write
movies, but as far as I was concerned those were created in some far-off land
by nameless sprites.
We all have dreams that shape us. I got pregnant and realized
that being a mother was my truest calling. Except for the pen and paper that
beckoned me in the wee hours, I was a mom all the way from colic to toddlerhood
and then onto my next pregnancy, and my next pregnancy, and my next pregnancy.
All the while, my movies kept me company. They reminded me, while my own
marriage was unraveling, that true love was still out there.
We all have dreams that save us. I got divorced. It was a
blessing, but destabilizing, nonetheless. I was no longer part of a couple. We
divvied up the friends, but I got to keep the videos. The weekends I didn’t
have the kids became my nights for take-out and romcoms. I needed to reinforce
my childhood notions of love. I started dating, which I found was not the way
to secure those notions. The more I dated, the more I needed my movies.
At some point, we all stop dreaming and start doing. One
day, my sister said, very matter-of-factly, “just write your movie already.”
Really? Maybe she was right. Maybe the only way I could have the love I wanted
was to create it myself. I started writing a screenplay and while developing
the main conflict, decided to reach out to my first serious boyfriend. I was in
NY. He was safely tucked away in Florida. Maybe he would be able to explain why
I was relationship-challenged.
We all have dreams that come true. My former boyfriend was
now divorced and seemed to have been waiting for my call. We kept in touch and
after a few weeks he said he needed to see me. Our time together convinced me
to keep writing. Upon the advice of my late, treasured mentor, I novelized my
screenplay and LOVE-LINES emerged. My boyfriend moved to NY, proposed, and
after a mere dozen years of living together, we got married this past New
Year’s Eve.
Keep dreaming.
What a story!! Touching, amazing, inspiring!! And...as I have read the book...I see how she was able to write it with such clarity, like you’re there, because she WAS there! Beautiful! Happy Marriage 2 to you!
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