What inspires people to write? Life is our storyteller. It’s undeniable. It’s the human experience with the gamut of emotions; joy, love, sorrow, sadness, even deeper—unfathomable.

Often, I struggle to find words to express the depths of my emotions. Some authors strive to make a story unforgettable by enhancing the narrative with extraordinary characters or situations that tease the imagination. In this case, the narrative is true. There is not a drop of fiction in it. It is also strange. I wish it were fiction. It is about my life in the Land of UN.

Drama Momma in the Land of UN came to me in the middle of the night as I struggled with the sleep-deprived thoughts rattling my brain. The Drama Momma part was easy. I am, after all, a first-class card-carrying drama momma. As the hours slowed to a steady drip, drip, drip of minutes, I stared at the ceiling UNblinking, UNmoving, UNable to sleep and trying desperately to UNthink my clambering thoughts. Then, I realized this is me. I’m surrounded by “UNs!” I live in the Land of UN.

Not having the luxury of waiting to spill my thoughts on paper lest I forget them, I groggily meandered to my keyboard. In my case, the writing spirit moves me mostly between midnight and 4 a.m.

So, at three o’clock in the morning, my fingers pecked holes in the silent stillness typing non-stop in the shadowy pre-dawn Land of UN. It’s been a labor of love, weaving the events, and trying to sew words together to present an accurate picture.

If this story were a patchwork quilt, the patches might appear to be helter-skelter. Once put together, though, the quilt tells the story of a lifetime. My lifetime. I am Gwen. My quilt seems simple enough at a glance, but it’s not. This story contains a lot of drama with some interesting characters.

There are many patches that I believe most people will relate to and understand. Then again, there are many patches that no one will understand because it is impossible to fathom the depths of despair that birthed this book.

Despair is only one part of the story. I’d like to think that the rest of the story is full of hope, joy, and love. I hope that the words I’ve sewn together will draw the reader into my Land of UN and that they may even see themselves in it.

In this land, some unthinkable things happen. It’s an uncanny land of real-life struggles and real-life joy. When you enter it, hopefully, you will emerge unscathed but not untouched.

You will notice that I give certain characters unflattering nicknames. This was my perception at the time and does not necessarily reflect how I feel now.

Let the quilting begin...