Where You’ll Land is now available on preorder!
If you follow my writing, you know that I am always looking to understand more about the human experience through my characters’ journeys.
I usually write from multiple points of view, because I’m very interested in the way each character’s decisions and motivations influence the others. In Where You’ll Land, I explored the interrelationships between people; how our choices affect not only us, but those around us, and then how those choices affect their lives and so on. I also wanted to show how we come together and break apart, then come together and break apart again, revealing how even painful relationships may be part of a larger growth process.
As you’ll read in the story, the tendency for us to repeat what we are most afraid of is something that seems uncanny, but is a dynamic that we all encounter. We all have narratives that shape our sense of self, our purpose, our understanding of who we are in the world with others. We interact within our world anticipating confirmation of these narratives and sometimes they are painful and false; for example, “I am not loveable,” may be one. Although incorrect (because we all deserve love), confirming this narrative becomes an unconscious quest that we often recreate over and over, until we realize what we’re doing and can change the emotions and concomitant false narrative. Someone with that mindset will push people away to confirm that they aren’t loveable. I tried to show how insidiously this happens; meaning, it happens without us even realizing it and even when the beginning seems different, we often find ourselves at the same end.
“She kept making the same mistake over and over, until she realized that if she wanted a different ending she needed to have a different beginning.”
I don’t think psychology should be exclusive to those of us who study it and are familiar with the theories and jargon. My hope is that this book will not only grip and entertain, but will also provide some deeper understanding of relationships and the various dimensions and complexities that arise as we come together, for better or worse.
Where You’ll Land is the first in a series of books that will continue with these characters’ stories, added new ones, all with the intention of exploring various dynamics that arise within our relationships.
I am currently working on rewrites for two books. One is a spin-off of Forever and One Day, called The Crooked Path. I have started a nostalgia column through the blog which ties into the plot of The Crooked Path. This is a place for people to write in to others, words that have remained unsaid, words you may have only understood you wanted to say in retrospect. If you are interested in submitting a piece, please write to me through my blog, my Facebook page, Jacqueline Simon Gunn, or Instagram page @jacquelinesimongunn. You don’t need to be a writer to submit. This is place for anyone to share messages, those words we’ve carried for too long that beg to be written.
The second, is the next book in this series; both can be read as standalones. I already have an idea of where the third in the series will go too. I’ve been posting more about the books and my writing journey on my Instagram and Facebook pages if you’re interested in following the progress of my work.
Here is the synopsis for Where You’ll Land:
After a bad breakup, I packed up my life and moved to Miami to study for my doctorate in psychology. I made one promise to myself: Do not get romantically involved while I was in school. I needed to heal.
And then Will Easton came into my life. He was warm and sweet and intelligent. And he got me. What I didn’t know was that Will was running from a tragedy of his own.
When you try to escape your past without confronting your emotions, you repeat those same past patterns over and over. And that’s just what happened to Will and me, along with a few others who got swept up into the storm that was our relationship. Then came the awful secret. The one that changed everything.
Sometimes the most painful relationships are the ones that help us grow into who we are and to find the love we had been searching for all along.
Which begs the question: Can we choose who we love?
Thank you for reading. Always feel free to write with questions. I love hearing from my readers.