The Yellow Brick Road

Before Covid, I was like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I was living my life with a sense of purpose and defining my happiness by my professional accomplishments. While that was fulfilling up to a point, it was never enough. The pandemic was a major disruption that shook our world to the core and dared me to redefine my path.

Like so many people, my routine, all that I knew, was swept away into a minefield of uncertainty. I stopped defining success by my work, financial achievements, relationships. I asked myself the fundamental question we all eventually have to face, “Am I fulfilled?” The answer was a resounding, “No.” The work I was doing wasn’t fueling my creativity. I wasn’t using my life experiences to help women achieve their purpose. The choices I made weren’t wrong, they just weren’t enough. I needed to rebalance my life and challenge myself to do what Dorothy did – find my Emerald City.

So, when Covid hit, I began writing. At first, I wrote short stories about my life. Stories of triumph, determination and regret validated something that I knew would be my yellow brick road – my sense of resiliency. It was then, that I decided to weave these stories into a fantastic tale of intrigue, suspense, adventure and romance.

Writing wasn’t easy. Like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz, on the outside I was a beastly force to be reckoned with, but inside I was afraid.  What if the story I wrote wasn’t good enough?  Instead of standing firm in my truth and writing with confidence, every word I put on the page was tentative at best.  My writing lacked the creativity locked within me.  

At some point, writing started to unleash my creative freedom in ways I never anticipated.  Everything around me became inspirational, from a child’s cry, a leaf blowing in the wind, to the feel of the sun beaming on my face. I wasn’t afraid anymore because I knew that I could translate everything I felt into words. And at times, those words would come alive on the page.  

Having the courage to put words to paper is great. But, in order to bring the reader into my world, I needed something more important than courage. Like the Lion, I needed to find my heart. You touch hearts with heart. I had to let go of my fears about sharing my story.  I started to deep dive into my psyche and create characters in my book that represented different parts of me. Their journeys are varied, and driven by their needs, obstacles and wants. Their motivations are sometimes noble and sometimes selfish but through it all, they are human.

On the yellow brick road of resiliency, courage and heart aren't complete without the one thing the Tin Man needed – a brain.  Now this is the nerve center of it all. Deciding how to craft characters, stories and emotions in a way that entertains, educates and, feeds the human spirit is challenging. Knowing how to build tension, pace anticipation, forestall the inevitable and create the unexpected is a skill all crafted by the mind. I pushed my creative and intellectual limits with my book because I didn’t just want an entertaining piece of fiction. I wanted a novel that would get people talking about the things that really matter – identity, humanity, love, integrity and power.

In many ways, Dominion became the culmination of everything I hope to be, teach and learn.  While just a fictionalized story centered on celebrating feminine resiliency, I hope to inspire thoughts and actions that bring out the best of who we are as humans and test our resolve to do better.

I guess you could say that when I finished Dominion: Ascension, the first book within the trilogy, I found my Emerald City. It was where I knew it was all along—inside of me.

To hear D.A. Murray talk more about her journey, visit our other blog posts.   You can also follow her reader content and live events on Instagram and TikTok.   Join D.A.Murray's Instagram Broadcast channel to  enjoy live Q&A with me on Wednesdays and Saturdays.