3 months until Someday in Paris is published!

How did this happen? I still have moments when I pinch myself!

It's funny how life works. I always wrote things; short stories, long stories:) I've started several novels but never finished one until Someday in Paris. In my teens, I wrote fantasy. In my twenties, I dabbled in multiple genres…but it wasn't until I got married, had my baby, moved to another country and hit my thirties and the busiest time of my life, that I finally committed to writing a novel start to finish.

And now… that novel, that story I've always wanted to write…is only three months away from being out into the world.

5 years ago, on my Birthday, when I started writing Zara and Leon's story, I had no intention to start this publishing journey. All I wanted was to tell their story and I had meant it as a wedding anniversary gift for my husband.

If he hadn't loved it so much… I wouldn't have attended my first writers' conference, met a bunch of amazing writers, learned about #pitmad, found my awesome agent. And I wouldn't be here today, writing about my upcoming debut.

I gave Chris the manuscript on the evening of our 7th wedding anniversary, after coming back home from a lovely dinner in Newport. It was the first time he read something I wrote, and I'd lie if I said I wasn't nervous. Even more so as I knew he wasn't into books about love stories (he loves fantasy and thrillers, action stuff like that).

He started reading, and the silence was killing me. One hour passed. Poker face. Two hours. Three.

"What do you think?"

"Let me read," he said with a serious look on his face. "And I'll tell you after."

I fell asleep on the couch, trying not to stare at him (too much) while he was reading. At about 4, 4:30 am, I woke up for some reason. Probably because my back was hurting…not the most comfortable couch, that's for sure. He was awake, the manuscript on his legs, and he had tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I actually, truly worried. And I was half-asleep and trying to make sense of it.

He wiped a tear, then came over and hugged me tightly.

"I love it," he said. "I really really really love it."

In the past, I had made Chris watch The Notebook, One Day and a lot of other tear-jerkers with me, but seeing him so emotional after reading my little story…I suddenly couldn’t remember the last time he cried because of a movie or a book.

He went on to use all sorts of superlatives, which I'm not going to share because he is my husband, he loves me, and of course, I am the best of the best of the best, and my story is unlike anything. But the way he talked about the characters like they were alive, how he perceived their lives and their destinies, and the kinds of questions he asked…made me think there was something there. Weeks passed, then months and it was almost Christmas now when he casually asked when I was going to publish it—neither one of us knowing what that meant and presuming it was as simple as: write a book, see it at B&N a few months later haha. I responded, 'this is not why I wrote it. It's just for us.' But he insisted.

I realize how lucky I am to have someone by my side who supports and encourages me.

After that first draft, so many followed. And when I say many, I mean MANY. I learned writing is rewriting. I discovered the value of beta readers and writing groups, the power of social media in connecting you to like-minded people. I learned how to be open to feedback—it wasn't easy at first— and that meant months and years dedicated to writing. With a full-time job and a young daughter, I had little time left. I found myself writing at night, on the weekends, on every single holiday we had. I took my laptop with me everywhere we went. He understood and encouraged me; he gave me that space I needed and the bit of extra time he could because he knew—he knows— how much it means to me.

Once I got started, I couldn't stop:)

I wrote several books since then, some will forever sit in my drawer, some might see the light of day. All of them are incredibly special to me. I've given my all to each and every story. I've spent countless hours, days, weeks, months with the characters, in their world…cried with them, laughed with them.

But Someday in Paris will forever be the book of my heart. Not only because it is my first novel, but because I find myself in it and it represents me. There are so many elements in it that make up my passions: my favorite places in Paris, France (and beyond), art, love, dreams, love, missed connections, love, did I say love? The kind of magical love that I feel each and every one of us dreams of and deserves.

I don't know what's in store for Someday in Paris. I hope readers will love it just as much as I love it. As much as my husband, my brilliant literary agent, my wonderful editor, my beta readers, my beautiful mother—who was the 2nd person to read it and who was my inspiration for one of the characters (but not the one she thinks:-) ). I hope they will love it as much as all the fantastic people who have read it throughout its journey; the people who told me how it stayed with them long after they finished it.

But I don't know... No writer ever knows, yet we hope. I hope! And I believe! In magic:)

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Until next time!

Keep Believing in Magic,

Olivia Lara