It is that time of the week again when we tackle those hard and difficult obstacles that make life such a bitch. And while this is the final instalment of my week long celebration of the October 7th release of The More The Merrier 2 by my writing group, The Erotic Collective, my contribution to that menage erotic boxed set in true Tara Neale style has a serious side.
For my heroine Katie Danvers in Nothing Done In Love, a core plot struggle is the eminent death of her beloved mother Joy of breast cancer. This is especially difficult for her because of the close relationship that she shares as the only child of a single parent. And because of how young her mother is…just fifty-three. Katie keeps thinking of all the mother-daughter things that they will never get to do together…weddings and grandbabies among them. She feels her whole world is tearing apart at the seams as she faces difficult choices about her life alone for the first time. Should she sell the house that her grandparents built and where her mother raised her? Should she quit her job as a kindergarten teacher and take over the charity that her mother has set up to continue to her life’s work? Should she travel for a bit until she can decide?
When thinking about Katie, I modelled her on a very famous example of a young woman devastated by the premature loss of her own mother. Angelina Jolie says of her mother’s Marcheline Bertrand death in 2007:
‘There are times when I want to talk to my mother about something the children do, and then I realise she is not there. She gave me a great sense of love. I might have been nutty in my youth but I was always loving’.
In another interview Jolie revealed that her mother fought through the pain of chemotherapy just to hang on long enough to see that her daughter’s life was on the right course.
She said: ‘I don’t want to get emotional. I wish she were here. I am never going to stop missing her.
‘My mom was born to be a grandmother; she would have just loved it. I will never be as good a mother as she was. I will try my best, but I don’t think I ever will be. She was the most generous, loving woman. She’s better than me.’
Of course, Angelina had her partner Brad Pitt to rely upon in those dark days…just as Katie rediscovers the depths of friendship, support and ultimately love in the arms of her best friends Chance and Chase Logan.
So today on Serious Sunday, I want to focus upon breast and ovarian cancer.
Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in women and the second most common form of the disease overall. In the US in 2015, over 230,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer and over 40,000 will die from it as fictional off-beat guru Joy Danvers does in Nothing Done In Love. In the UK, it is estimated that 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in their lifetimes. Though the good news is that with early detection and treatment five out of six diagnosed with this disease will survive.
For more information check out:
Although not as prevalent as breast cancer, the fifth mos common type of cancer in women, the prognosis for ovarian cancer is not as bright with a five year survival rate of just 45%. This is primarily because it is not caught as early (Stage 1 has a survival rate of 92% on par with breast cancer).
Check out:
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
Let this serve as a reminder for all of us girls…do regular breast self-exams, do not ignore even small symptoms such as unexplained pain or lumps and get it checked out properly.
Remember Nothing Done In Love…and check out the other lighter selection from my amazing Literotica co-authors Tara Crescent, Livia Grant, Jennifer Bene, Anne A. Lois, Christine Hart and Livnah A. Eden. The More The Merrier menage erotic boxed set out at Amazon on October 7th.
Tara Cox - Literary Erotica 