Rebecca Rogers Maher, Guest Blogger :: A Hero with Class: On Writing the Hero of I’ll Become the Sea

For some reason when I was young and daydreaming about falling in love, the fantasy of wealth never entered the picture. I didn’t relate to Cinderella’s story at all. I wondered how in the world she would fit into the prince’s elite family life. Who would she talk to? Who could possibly understand her?

In many romance stories, money magically falls into the hands of the protagonists. One or both of them get rich through no fault of their own, and everyone is happy. Well, sure. Who wouldn’t be happy? The only problem is that it never feels quite real to me. Sometimes I want a fantasy story like that, a kind of dream fulfillment. But sometimes I want to hear a real story that could happen – that should happen – in any woman’s life.

Since that is the story I most wanted to hear, that is the story I decided to write.

When I began working on I’ll Become the Sea, I was teaching in a struggling public school in New York City. When we practiced fire drills, I’d have to navigate my lines of students around the clusters of hypodermic needles lying on the sidewalk. I was inspired to write the story of a teacher – one with a complicated past of her own to work through. Trying to imagine who would come along and “take her away from all this,” I decided I didn’t want her to be taken away. The world is full of people who fight like hell to run away from difficult things. I wanted a hero who would help my heroine learn to live strongly in the place where she was, and be happy there.

And so David was born. David – sigh! – a beautiful, loving, powerful, strong-hearted hero. And importantly, a working class hero. He works with kids too. He runs an afterschool center for at-risk children, and he is happy doing it. He lives in a simple house by the ocean and he plays guitar in a local band. When he and my heroine come together, neither of them gets rich. Money doesn’t solve their problems. They just miraculously, intensely, deeply and fully fall in love. And live happily ever after.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the novel:

Jane Elliot is a success story. A survivor of childhood abuse, she has dedicated her life to teaching. But something is missing. Teaching at an urban school and maintaining a relationship with her absentee fiancé, Ben, Jane can’t seem to feel much of anything at all. Then she meets David, a musician who runs an afterschool program for at-risk kids. Jane tries to deny her attraction to David and convince herself they are just good friends. But an accident, a death, a grim family obligation and her own intense desire force Jane to overcome the past, rethink the present — and take a risk on genuine love.

I’ll Become the Sea is available at CarinaPress.com. Thanks for reading! You can follow me online at www.RebeccaRogersMaher.com, www.twitter.com/RebeccaRMaher and www.facebook.com/AuthorRebeccaRogersMaher.

Tagged as: Carina Press, Guest Blogger, I'll Become The Sea, Rebecca Rogers Maher