Author Chrissy Curry is a multi-genre author whose work reflects both heart and range.
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When a woman has been through something traumatic, she goes into survival mode. It is a straight line, no curves, no shortcuts. She moves forward and does what she needs to do to get from point A to point B, especially when she has little sets of eyes looking up at her for guidance.
I’ve been there.
I remember the struggles, but I also remember the day I looked in the mirror and realized that I missed what it felt like to just be a woman. To be desired, spontaneous, and alive. I wanted to feel like a woman again.
What happens when a woman who has spent so long being strong begins to feel something stirring inside her? What happens when her body reminds her that she is more than the responsibilities she carries and the experiences that have shaped her?
Because it was such a prominent turning point of my own life, it’s something I wanted to bring into Cora’s story. For my protagonist, that awakening comes in her dreams.
Cora’s alone, pregnant, and exhausted from the constant weight of everything life keeps throwing at her. There is always something else to deal with, another challenge to face, another reason she has to be strong when, truthfully, she’s tired of having to be strong.
Through hormonal changes and feelings she doesn’t entirely understand, a part of Cora begins to stir. Her sensual dreams become something she looks forward to, a little escape from the reality of her days. In them, she isn’t just the woman carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She’s a woman who can feel desire and reconnect with a part of herself she’s had little time or energy to acknowledge.
For those moments, she gets to be more than a survivor. She gets to feel alive.
One of the things I wanted to focus on in Open Promise: The Tides of Deception was how our bodies and emotions can surprise us, sometimes in ways we don’t quite understand. For Cora, these dreams aren’t simply about sex. They’re about having something to look forward to in a life where so much feels beyond her control. They’re about remembering that beneath the exhaustion, the responsibilities, and everything she’s endured, there is still a woman with desires of her own.
A dream can leave behind a feeling long after its details are gone. It can make you wonder what you’ve been missing and what it might feel like to let yourself experience something simply because it feels good.
I wanted Cora to have that space.
I believe a woman can survive the unthinkable and still want to feel beautiful. She can carry her past and still crave a future filled with passion and possibility and she doesn’t have to feel guilty for wanting any of it.
Sometimes, finding yourself begins quietly, with a feeling you can’t explain or a dream you find yourself looking forward to. That is Cora’s journey in Open Promise. And in some ways, it’s a piece of mine, too.
