Anne C. West

There Are So Many Books I Want to Write

There’s always a story behind the story that authors write.

Sometimes, it’s something you witness firsthand at a coffee shop—like a look, a murmur, or the way someone stirs their coffee when they’re nervous. Sometimes, it’s a dream your child tells you—half-wild, half-brilliant, and brimming with possibility. And sometimes, it’s the embodiment of rage you feel towards someone who’s wronged you.

But the point is, stories always have an origin story. That’s the most fascinating part for me.

I once listened to an interview with Bella Andre, the incredibly successful romance author. She said she often has two or three books already fully formed in her head, just from ideas she got out of the blue.

It sounds like a flippant thing, doesn’t it? Like some people are just “blessed with ideas.” But here’s the thing: the ideas we have for books will always have roots in real-life experience. Always.

What fascinates me about this fact is how our perspective—not just the experience, but the way we see and process that experience—shapes the stories. Moulds them. Lets them grow. I believe Bella Andre just sits down and writes her stories, fully formed. So there’s clearly another layer of evolution that happens in the process of writing itself.

Isn’t that just fascinating?

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What Inspired the First One

The first story I officially published was the short story A Day of Celebration.

It was by no means the first short story I ever wrote. More like the thousandth. But it was the first one I had the guts to put out into the world.

And the story behind that story? That comes from real life.

I’ve not written about this before, so here goes.

A Day of Celebration was inspired by the time my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We were in our twenties—newly married, new parents—and out of the blue, we had to deal with the Big C.

I’ve written a lot about life experiences—the good and the bad. But that experience? That one shaped everything. We were thrown into a whirlwind of doctors and medicine and hospitals and treatments and a whole horde of protocols. We were so young. It was a beast to deal with.

This was decades before the enormous self-care and mental health movement started going mainstream. So what did we do?

We just got on with the shit. Life happened, and I pulled up my big girl panties and got the work done. That’s what you did back then.

I got up. Went to work. Raised our son, who’d just turned two. Nursed my husband after the operation and chemo. Tried to negotiate and understand all the medical mumbo jumbo. All while thinking, “I’m too young to be a widow.”

Because of all the things I imagined at twenty-five, “widow” was never one of them.

Years later, I sat down to finally try and write out those feelings—feelings I felt, but never really processed. There was panic. Overwhelm. Fatigue. Relief. Confusion. Sadness. And more.

It started as a journaling session—back before I even understood what journaling was. I tried to catch what I could, and instead of writing it from my point of view, I wrote it from a character’s perspective.

When I read this story now, I can feel the flatness. The deadness. The numbness I felt when I wrote it.

An editor once read the story and said it was terrible. “No emotion, no feeling,” she told me. And she wanted me to change it.

But I said no.
I wanted it to be “bad.”
I wanted it to be dead.
I wanted it to be numb.

Because that’s what it was. That’s what it felt like.

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About the Story

In A Day of Celebration, a little bit of my realism, pessimism, and natural negativity is pretty real.

Maggie is probably based on me. When you meet her, she’s numb. Then again, she stays numb throughout the story.

Because here’s the truth: when you go through big life events, you don’t just bounce back once everything is magically okay again.

Then there’s Stanley. He’s very much based on my husband. He could do many things while recovering, long before my brain could even register that he wasn’t an invalid anymore.

As for the financial impact of everything, we do touch on that here and there. In the story, Maggie and Stanley’s medical journey is a dream. We still believed in mainstream medicine like it was gospel. But over time, we learned there are alternatives.

So when I wrote this, I found myself fantasising about everything I’d learned in the decade and a half after the fact. Funny how that happens.

Hubby and I love walking and hiking. We love parks and park benches. So writing this felt like a little throwback to life before the Big C. And a glimpse into what might be possible after it. You’ll spot a park bench on the book cover.

Even though those things we loved together still exist, there’s a grey hue now. A few cracks. And it’s still there. To this day.

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Here’s the Blurb

She struggles to find foods that he can tolerate after chemotherapy has destroyed his appetite. As she experiments with different recipes and supplements, she discovers a whole new world of alternative treatments. The couple’s relationship with their oncologist deteriorates, and they move away from mainstream medical options. Despite the costs and the toll it takes on her, she perseveres, taking things one day at a time.

In this heartwarming story, the woman finds hope and joy in the small victories, even as she faces the reality of her husband’s illness.

When a loved one lives with sickness, in most cases, those closest to them are the ones suffering more. In silence. We stand by as treatment fails. We witness how our beloved partner, child, parent dwindles to a shadow. Hope slowly ebbs from our bones.

But sometimes, hope flows back. Sometimes, the promise of being whole, happy, and alive again nudges us forward. And that’s what happened to Sarah when she received a life-changing phone call.

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Where You Can Read It

This story is available everywhere books are sold.
But here’s a UNIVERSAL LINK so you can choose your favourite store.

I’m especially proud that you can buy it directly from me in my AUTHOR SHOP, or you can read it as part of my password-protected BLOG A STORY section—if you’re subscribed to my newsletter.

At some stage, the #BAS posts will move to the membership section of my site. But until then—please enjoy.

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That’s It for Today

The new blogging challenge—the third one since I started daily blogging—suggested that Thursdays be a form of throwback.

And what better way to throw back than to tell you about the stories I’ve published?

That’s it from me for today.

Until tomorrow, then.

Cheers,
Anne

**Please send me an email with your feedback at anne@annecwest.co.za. Comments vanish and get missed, hence emails.**