Jersey

Jersey

I am here.

Take me or leave me.

This is me, here.

Will you take Joyce

with his lyrical lilt

and his Dublin footbridge?

Will you drink his pints

and whisper his prayers?

Yes?

Try me, then.

There’s a music in the voice

here, too.

There’s a gritty walk

and a bite of words

that will push your nose

to the window,

make you witness

what it takes

to survive.

Your choice.

A post today by Therese Walsh on Writers Unboxed reminded me of the above poem I wrote a few months ago. The post, titled The Rational-Irrational Writer, speaks of the false beliefs that we develop that can hold us back from attaining our dreams. Following is the reply I posted on the blog.

When I was young, I wanted so much to be a writer with a name that would instantly convey a place, like Joyce is Dublin, Twain is Mississippi, and Faulkner is the South. My belief, though, was that no one wants to read a novel set in New Jersey. I still don’t think that’s a totally false belief. Even my Jersey beta readers back then told me this. Jersey is a punchline, judged in polls as the most hated state. (And I join the governor and fellow Jerseyites in being incredibly proud of that; lol finger emoji.)

Anyway, I let this belief, false or true as it might be, temper my writing of place in my first novel, Helping Each Other, when I was young.

For the second novel, Better Late Than Never, years later, I decided I would not be restrained, I would embrace the Jersey Shore because life is short and if I’m going to write my best story, it has to reflect where I am, who I am, and the people I know.

That, I know, is also a fact and one I now give priority to. I had enough feedback from readers, even from outside NJ, that praised the sense of setting in the 2nd novel that I made the setting in the 3rd novel (yet unpublished Boardwalk Ice) even more of a character.

My point is that even if there are facts to support the belief that’s holding you back, keep looking. Turns out I was asking the wrong question. It’s not about what will most people read, it’s about what do I need to write.

How about you? Do you have possible false beliefs that hold you back from following a passion inside, writing-related or otherwise? You’re not alone. I’m here for you.

What do you think? Should I share more poetry and some fiction on here? Yay or Nay? Your choice.

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This Is Not About is written by Ada Austen, the author of Better Late Than Never, a multicultural second-chance romance set on the beaches and boardwalks of the New Jersey Shore. It is the New Jersey Romance Writers 2021 Golden Leaf Winner - Best Book by NJ Author.