The Stories behind the Story

Have you ever thought how a story comes about? When I read a book that I really love, I always wonder which parts, small or big, were taken from real life, either the author’s or others’. It’s inevitable, one way or another- art imitating life or life imitating art (is it the egg or is it the chicken?).  I think it gives it a sense of immediacy and justification-  more reality, so to speak.

I’ve had this story, TSLoD (sorry, I won’t be releasing the title for a while, just as a surprise 🙂 ) stuck in my head for almost 12 years. It was never the right time to start it, and I wasn’t ready. Now that I did write it, it’s hard to have the patience to wait to send it out there. But I am waiting, making it better, and will take my time doing it.

But I digress. I have been a reader all my life, and one thing I’ve learned is you write about what you know. And what do I know? I know about where I come from and how I lived. That’s all I can write about. So today I’m going to tell you a little bit about that.

My parents were both from the north of the country, my mom from the district of Braga and my dad from the district of Viana do Castelo. Like so many people back in those days, they went to Lisboa, the capital, and there they met. My siblings and I were born is Lisboa in the 70s. When I was ten, for family and professional reasons, we moved to the city of Braga. It’s the third largest city in the country (just don’t ask the people of Coimbra, they don’t agree sometimes), after Lisboa and Porto. Here’s a map, to make it easier to see where these places are:

 

For a small country, there’s a lot of diversification. And to make a long story short, I don’t consider myself from Lisboa (Lisbon)- I grew up in Braga, and that’s where I’m from. I lived there 15 years before I came to Utah, and I still think of myself from there, not from Utah. I know it pretty well. I did junior high, high school, and five years of college there. I walked every where there. All of my family and bestest (yep, it’s a word) friends are still all there. You get the point.

It was never a question where this story would take place- it couldn’t have been placed anywhere else. It does have some scenes in other places but the main action is in Braga. This is where Josh and Sofia meet and where they fall in love. (I can say this because it’s really not a spoiler- you know that, right? 😉 It is a love story, after all. The falling in love part is a must.)

So I thought it would be fun to talk about these places in the next few months before I publish the book. A little inside tour, so to speak. Don’t forget to visit the Bookshelf page for a blurb of the story.

I’ll also be taking questions, if you have any. Just leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

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