Today we have with us our good friend, Blaze author Kira Sinclair. She has a brand new book on the shelves right now--just the thing to heat up these cold winter days. She will give a copy to one lucky commenter, so chime in!
Could You Walk Away?
Could you walk away from your life? Everything you know. Your home. Your family. Any wealth, legacy and possibly your job?
I’m betting most people would say no. I know that it would take a bullet and/or a kidnapper to get me to leave behind my kids.
But what if you didn’t have any family you cared about? If you were a young adult with way more money than responsibilities. Could you walk away from millions of dollars? What if you knew that it was the right thing to do? Not for a moral reason, like the money was stolen, but because the presence of it prevented you from living up to your fullest potential. Could you walk away from it then?
I’d like to think that I could. That I could put my happiness, satisfaction and sanity ahead of a life of luxury. But I’m not sure that I really could.
In my latest release, Caught Off Guard, I got to play with this exact question. What could drive a person to leave behind millions of dollars and a life of ease and excess? Annemarie Prescott had a fantastic reason for doing just that. She walked away from it all to make a life she could be proud of – under her own steam and on her own terms.
Asking myself what it would take to make me walk away from everything was intriguing enough. But then I started wondering...what could possibly drag me back? What – or who – could make me question every decision I’d ever made?
I think that’s one of the things I love most about my job. I get to play devil’s advocate…to ask myself the hard questions and make someone else live through the answers. Throw in a darkly handsome man who wants to protect my damsel in distress, even if she doesn’t want the protection, and you’ve got a powder keg of emotions that was so fun to write.
So, tell me, assuming you have no kids or significant other, could you walk away from a life that was holding you back?
Kira
If I had no kids, no family or significant other, then yes I could walk away. I often wonder how life would be different if I hadn't done this or hadn't done that. You know, what if I hadn't turned the corner and met my husband. Sometimes it's fun to imagine where you'd be right now. But, I have no regrets about turning that corner.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kira. Thanks for being with us today.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could walk away but we are the sum of our experiences and if I had a different sum, who knows. As you said, that's the great thing about writing (and reading, for that matter). We can do all kinds of things
"There is no frigate like a book...."
Okay, less Dickinson; more Sinclair. Kira that is.
I may have been able to walk away when I was much younger, but not now. The essence of what I am is building my nest. And it has been a lot of work to create it!
ReplyDeleteMorning, y'all. :-) I'm currently in my PJs waiting for school to open so I can drop my girls off and get some work done. I really wish it would stop snowing!
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I know exactly what you mean. I didn't plan on meeting my husband when I was 18. I thought I'd go away to college and become a lawyer. Life has a way of changing our plans...and I don't regret any of those corners I turned either. If things had gone the way I'd planned I wouldn't have my girls, my husband and probably wouldn't be writing.
Jean, thanks for having me! And I love what you said...we're the sum of our experiences. It's hard to think of those experiences that way when we're in them. They're either good and we want to hold onto them or they're bad and we want to forget them. Which makes me wonder why we tend to remember the bad stuff the best and forget the good stuff.
Michelle, I think you've hit the nail on the head. When I was younger my life could have gone in so many directions. My choices - or my ability to freely make those choices - has changed because there are more people in my life that I have to factor into those decisions. Before I only had to worry about me.
Kira
I have not yet found the courage to walk away.
ReplyDeleteHi Kira! Thanks for sitting under the Tulip Tree with us today. ;)
ReplyDeleteWould I change the life I have now? No. The choices I made were for the right reasons and I've let my inner voice chart the waters for me from the very start.
But the question is: Could you leave IF you didn't have the things in your life that you have right now?
For me, that's a question of character. If I had the character I had when I was young and I knew leaving meant the salvation of my soul, I would leave. It would be a hard road, but I would've have found the courage to do it.
If I had everything I wanted, money, prestige, an education, but lacked freedom, nothing would be able to hold me back. I would gladly give it all up and start a journey based on my own merit. Character is backbone. And at the end of the day, you have to be able to sleep with the choices you've made.
Very thought provoking, Kira! :D
I have kids but they've flown from the nest and now I have no significant other because I gathered up every ounce of courage I had and walked away. I had no choice. And because of the non disclosure agreement I had no choice about (well, I did, but it would have dragged the legal wranglings out another two years or more) that's all I can say about walking away.
ReplyDeleteBut now I'm walking toward a new life. Every day's an adventure, not necessarily a good one. But it is what it is. And so far I haven't made any monumental goofs.
Marilyn
Congrats on the new book, Kira! I see a trip to B&N in my future. :-) Yes, I could walk away. Been there, done that, and it ain't easy, but there really is such a thing as a gilded cage. Your book sounds fabulous!
ReplyDeleteYes, I could walk away. No matter how difficult it would be, I would force one foot in front of the other and forge ahead into new territory.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new book, Kira!
I would like to think I could walk away if I didn't have any kids or significant other. I hope I could see that walking away was the best option.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm the weirdo here. It takes everything I have not to walk away on a daily basis. I like to keep moving, take new opportunities, slip out before there's problems. The life I've built here - a house, relationship, serious career and great friends... It keeps me here and pins me here at the same time.
ReplyDeleteKira, thanks for visiting with us today.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that I could walk away. Like Vicki I did basically walk away. I didn't leave or lose my family but I did walk away from an entire life that I when I was married. As others here have said, sometimes being free is everything. I bet that is sorta what Miss Prescott.
SP-I wish I was more adventurous like you but somehow I missed that bravery gene!
I just don't know, I'm kind of a coward about change so I don't know if I would or not. If I had no significent other or kids, maybe.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the posts! I've loved reading them and the conversation. It's always interesting to me to see something from a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteKira
Kira,
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining us today. It was nice to have some Instigator sunshine!
I did leave a life I had to become who I am today, but that was when I was young. I didn't leave money, but I did leave the security of having a roof over my head and I ventured out into the world. Alone. It wasn't easy and I made a lot of bad decisions along the way because I was young, too young. But it was the right decision. I had to go or I would implode. I did journey back emotionally for a time, but now I have distanced myself again for sanity reasons. I will not lose myself for anyone. I'm a bulldog about it.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read your story, it sounds like a great premise and one I know will keep me on the edge of my seat.
:-)
Interesting Kira, I like that you looked at this question, what a great concept and it intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteI love my life now..it has its ups and downs, but when I was 18 I walked away from my old life. I did it on purpose and I won't go back. I've looked back and realize its for the best.
I have tenuous connections at best to the past.
Sometimes you have to walk away to survive.
Again, how neat that you addressed this.