Spotlight on Cynthia Starts a Band by Olivia Swindler

Olivia Swindler

These are some powerful words from an author who is writing from her own experience.  This missive seems written from the heart and moved me when I read it.  From the photo, she has recovered and appears to be someone you would be delighted to host for drinks and conversation. 

Here is the rationale for her book:

I have always been a storyteller. From the moment I learned that I could keep my sister's attention if I had a good enough story, I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

 When I started writing, it took me years to find my voice. No matter what the plot was, for some reason, the story kept falling flat. The words that I was writing didn't feel like me because they weren't me. The stories I was trying to tell were not mine to carry. I knew it. Those who read my words knew it. It was not authentic.

In my mid-twenties, I had an "oh-my-gosh-the-world-is-ending-and-I-will-never-find-love-again" breakup. (Older and wiser now, I wish I was dramatic when I typed those words, but I know that you can find that phrasing verbatim somewhere in a text to my sister). I really thought that my life was over.

 I started to tell a few of my friends about my recently ended relationship. After describing something my ex had said to me while we were dating, one of my dearest friends said the words I had been dreading and denying—that he had been emotionally abusive and manipulative.

 With the pieces of my broken heart, I refused to believe her. He HAD loved me. I loved him.

 A few months went by, and I did my best to forget her words. I moved on with my life. I figured out who I was again. I felt like myself. And then, one morning, I got on Twitter. The #metoo movement had begun, and I found myself absentmindedly scrolling through the tweets. I could relate to almost every tweet. The things these women were calling abuse were things that I had experienced in this relationship.

 I fell to the floor and cried.

From my spot on the floor, I wrote what would become the last song in Cynthia Starts a Band, Wasn't Love. I had spent the better half of a year justifying this bad behavior because I thought that the way I was being treated was the way love was supposed to look like. For years, I held onto that song, keeping it as an anthem to myself. It was a reminder of what I had walked through. A testament to my own strength and courage.

 And then, after years of writing stories that were not mine to write, the story of Eleanor Quinn, a woman who is escaping an abusive relationship, came to me. The words ultimately wrote themselves.

●        I wrote Cynthia Starts a Band as a beacon of hope for anyone trying to find their agency again.

●        I wrote Cynthia Starts a Band as a love letter to anyone who has felt alone in their pain.

●        I wrote Cynthia Starts a Band to remind myself of the courage it takes to start over.

 

I hope that through stories like Cynthia Starts a Band, readers feel empowered and remember that they can do hard things. I hope you feel seen. I hope you feel loved.

You can find the author at:

https://www.oliviaswindler.com/

FB: @olivia.swindler

IG: @oliviaswindler

Twitter: @oliviaswindler

Buy it at: Amazon

or : Barnes and Noble

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned