The Hot Mess of Writing LOVE ME AGAIN!

Hey Boos!

I’m back! I had decided to take the month of August off to just chill and collect myself. I did no writing, no blog post, very little promotion on the socials…and then I got Covid! The entire Polanco household got the ‘vid and it just gave me another excuse to just chill out. But, like I said before I’m back!

August was one hell of a month!

I’m so sad that it’s gone…

Did you catch my sarcasm? August was long and hard (that’s what she said) and I’m glad we’re done with her because that bitch was truly dragging it.

LOVE ME AGAIN. Pre-order today. Available 9/30/22

I originally planned to blog about romance books that I’ve recently read and actually finished, just so you guys can gear up for a nice, romantic September but…once again, I’ve changed my mind. This blog is going to focus on the making of my new, upcoming book LOVE ME AGAIN.

Just to give you guys a little synopsis…

LOVE ME AGAIN is a second-chance romance between Jovi and Scott Garcia, a husband and a wife who have been together for fifteen years. They’ve been going through a really difficult time and Jovi finds a text message sent to Scott that pushes her over the edge. Jovi has had enough and she demands a divorce.

A blind sided Scott can’t believe what just happened and in a fit of desperation throws out the idea of therapy as a way to get their relationship back on track. He would do anything to save their marriage. But he soon discovers that the road to recovery is not as easy as he thought.

Boo’s, I swear to you, you will laugh, you will cry and you will feel all the sexy things and then cry some more.

Now that you get the idea of what it’s about…how did I come up with this concept?

Believe it or not…This story is very loosely based on my own marriage!

Just like most marriages, my husband and I have had our ups and downs and when the idea of his book sprouted in my head, it was because of an argument we were having. The argument was nothing serious, just a stubborn Capricorn and self-obsessed Leo disagreeing about something dumb. It was so insignificant that i don’t even remember what it was about.

At the time, I was so upset that I decided that the only place to have some alone time and collect my thoughts was the bathroom. So I locked myself in there, stood under the shower and scrubbed my hair. I just wanted to wash away the day and the argument but in the process of actually washing my hair…I heard voices.

Two distinct voices, yelling at each other.

It shouldn’t sound so crazy. At the time, we lived in East Harlem and yelling at that time of night wasn’t out of the ordinary. But this wasn’t NYC yelling, this was in my head.

I heard Jovi screaming for a divorce and then I heard Scott backtracking and stuttering. I literally was shocked at how vivid everything was. I could see their apartment, smell the take out they had, hear the t.v. blaring but most importantly I heard them.

I washed the shampoo out as quickly as I could. With stinging eyes, I dragged my sopping wet body out the shower and ran to find my notebook. I legit started scribbling everything I heard. Because my family and I were basically living in a room, I wrote in the dark as to not wake my son.

Before I knew it, I had the first two chapters written and excitement pumped through my veins. I couldn’t wait to find out the rest of their story. I would spend most of my free time, writing it.

During my lunch at day job, free weekends, free any time…I would work on their story on most of my free time, until…it was done.

Will my husband be upset that he reads something I wrote that may or may not be based on us? Probably not. But he has been warned. If he reads it, which he probably won’t because it’s not his vibe, he would recognize us and the things that I’ve embellished for dramatic purposes.

So, yes…it is loosely based on my marriage.

Were there difficult things to write? Absolutely. Not because they happened in life but because it was just sad. Without giving too much away…the story discusses some mental health issues that I’ve experience personally, and to write it down and read it back was…sad but cathartic.

It was hard to write because I was too afraid how real I could get in this work of fiction. But, in the end, I think I did my story justice.

Just because this was loosely based on my life, does it mean my other books are based on me and my life? Not really. I think that other writers will tell you that their MC’s have a little bit of them in some way, shape or form. In my first two books, Ollie Apple has some of my personality traits that those who really know me will ask if it’s me.

I have to tell them, it’s not me! Ollie has some spark of me, but she’s not me. Jovi, has a piece of me but she’s not me. I think it’s easy to take our lives and our experiences and use them as inspiration and just flesh out the things we want to enhance.

There will always be some easter egg in my stories that only those who truly know me would find.

Or at least that’s the way I like to write.

What was one of the things I enjoyed writing the most in this book? The family dynamic! Jovi is the middle child. She has an older brother, Tommy and a younger sister, Liz. I don’t have a sister. I have two brothers who wouldn’t want to play Barbies with me. So, I based the sister dynamic on my mother and my Titi Wally. They are super close and love each other dearly. One is a bit serious and the other more free.

Jovi has a tight-knit family who bicker and argue but would do anything for each other.

Scott is an only child so, he’s become close with Jovi’s family and has a best friend, Aaron, who we may see in a book of his own…

Ok, so we talked about most things…I could go into detail about the sex scenes but I don’t know if I want to keep that as a separate post or not. I will neither confirm or deny whether or not the sex scenes are based on our life…and that’s all I will say on that.

OK, I think I’m done for now. If you guys have any questions about the book, my writing process, if you just want to talk bonchinché, feel free to reach out!

I hope you pick up LOVE ME AGAIN and love Jovi and Scott just as much as I do.

Love Always.

J.L.