Okay, so I just finished the second-draft pass on Day 1.
I broke this book’s timeline into days. Some days are long, while others are short, mirroring the reality of how time passes. Day 1 was heavy because this is Isadora’s return.
Twelve years ago, she gave her mother a big F-U and left. During their argument, her mother asked her something that is, unfortunately, a very Dominican thing to say:
“¿Y cuando yo me muera?”
I have heard this phrase so many times. I have even said it to my own son, which shows how easily we pass pain from one generation to the next.
As a child, that phrase pushed me to put someone else’s comfort before my own. The thought of losing that adult would make me feel so guilty that I would usually do whatever they asked of me afterward. It wasn’t until I was older that I understood the phrase for what it was: a manipulative tactic and a toxic one at that.
So, as someone who writes from her own pain, I gave that experience to my characters.
I wanted to show the imperfect dynamic between a mother, Altagracia, who is trying to guide her daughter toward something she believes is right, and Isadora, who wants nothing to do with it.
But here’s the thing: Isadora rejects it.
She rejects the guilt being placed on her. She rejects the manipulation, trying to tie her to a place where she has never felt she belonged.
Then, twelve years later, Isadora returns to Willowshade because her mother’s words have finally come true.
Altagracia is dead.
Now Isadora must come face-to-face with everything and everyone she left behind and with all the guilt that comes with returning too late.
Okay, wish me luck as I embark on Day 2…
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