In The Book, Female Friendship is the Best #girlpower #inspiration

In the current state of social distancing (although I much prefer we use the term physical distancing), we can still stay in touch in real time with social media, text, Skype, etc. Let's transport back in time and think of how our life would be impacted if we didn't have all of these immediate outreach abilities.

I'm old enough to remember when letter writing was the primary mode of communication. If it still was, we'd feel much more isolated, I suppose, but what fun it would be to go to the mailbox everyday and find more than junk mail.

The inspiration for Amanda in the Summer came from a letter in my mail. Actually, it wasn't a letter but a handmade invitation to a wedding. The one-page, 8x11 folded piece of paper resembled a peach-cloud in color, and as I pulled it from the envelope the words "Amanda in summer" came together because of the way the paper had been folded.

Those three words became my inspiration for my short novelette Amanda in the Summer. An image of a woman, sitting on a blanket on the beach, pregnant and writing a letter came to me so colorful and evoked such emotions, I knew there was a story.

Amanda in the Summer is about the friendship between women through three generations. The story is told entirely through the letters of the these women.

So...during this time of physical distancing, are you women keeping your connections going with your close female friends? How are you managing? Do you have longtime female friendships? Our bonds can be a powerful essence for our sanity.

A line of women, all named Amanda, stretches back for generations. Each with her hopes, her joys, her pain—each pouring out her heart in correspondence with a dear family friend who shares their lives, understands their loves, and joins in their sorrows.

But within the correspondence lies a secret. And as the youngest of the Amandas retraces the journey through the years—beginning in post-war America and following through to modern day—the letters reveal, layer by layer, the Amandas who came before her. Soon, the truths and lies hidden in the letters lead her down a path of self-discovery that forges a bond between her past and future.

AMAZON

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