Leslie A. Rasmussen - Love, Marriage, Family, the Empty Nest and When All Comes Crashing Down

Leslie A. Rasmussen is the award-winning author of the novel, After Happily Ever After. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, she attained a master's degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Recently, she’s written over twenty essays for Huffington Post, and MariaShriver, and spoken on panels discussing empowering women in midlife. Leslie is a member of The Writers Guild of America, as well as Women In Film and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. In her free time, Leslie loves to read, exercise, and hang out with friends. She lives in Los Angeles and is married and has two sons.  As our Author of the Day, she tells us all about her book, After Happily Ever After

Please give us a short introduction to what After Happily Ever After is about.

After Happily Ever After is about Maggie Dolan who is forty-five-years old and struggling with getting older. With her husband disconnected and keeping something from her, and a daughter soon leaving for college, she realizes it's her time to rediscover the woman she used to be. As Maggie starts out on this exciting and sometimes scary journey, she tries to navigate through the problems in her marriage, her daughter pulling away from her, her narcissistic mother, and the news that her father's health is deteriorating. As Maggie gets overwhelmed, she finds herself making decisions that could blow up the life she's always known. After Happily Ever After is a humorous and heartbreaking look at marriage, family, the empty nest, aging parents and what happens when they come crashing down at the same time.

What inspired you to write this story? Was there anything that made you want to tackle this?

The novel was inspired by my and my friends’ experiences with our marriages and families. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve sometimes scrutinized the decisions that got us to where we are today. And at middle age, we face our own mortality when we witness the difficulties our parents go through as they age. I wanted to write a book that people could relate to and feel like they weren’t alone going through these kinds of issues. Also, in midlife, we may hit a point where we want to start a second act. Our kids may be leaving the nest, our marriage may not work anymore, or we may want to get back into the working world. All these decisions can be overwhelming, and I wanted to show that you can change your circumstances and rediscover who you are.

Tell us more about Maggie Dolan. What makes her tick?

Maggie Dolan loved her job in publishing, and she wanted to move up the ladder. When she had her daughter, she wanted to be there for her, and decided it was best to give up the job and stay home with her. As many women do, she was so busy raising her child, that she lost herself in the process, and when she woke up seventeen years later, she realized that she didn’t know who she was anymore. Through her inner dialogue, Maggie lets the reader know her thoughts and quirks and why she makes the decision that she makes. She reacts without thinking things through because she’s feeling lonely and vulnerable and realizes too late that her decisions have consequences.

What did you have the most fun with when writing this story?

The most fun I had was writing Maggie’s inner dialogue. She says to herself what so many of us are thinking, but we don’t say out loud to anyone. It was so much fun capturing her anxiety and how overwhelmed she got in certain situations. I also enjoy writing any dialogue between characters. I was a television sitcom writer in the past and have written over twenty personal essays for Huffington Post, so I love witty banter.

Why did you title this "After Happily Ever After"?

After Happily Ever After refers to so many things in the novel. First off, it’s about what happens in a marriage after time has passed, and it’s no longer the honeymoon phase and you’re dealing with life’s issues. The title also refers to after the daughter’s happy childhood and how she will be moving on into the “real” world. Lastly, the title refers to Maggie’s parents who have had a happy marriage and now they are older and have medical issues. It’s how their lives are after their happy healthy life.

Do any of your characters ever take off on their own tangent, refusing to do what you had planned for them?

Absolutely! Maggie used to wake me up at night and let me know what direction she wanted to go in. I also had a different ending for the novel, and after getting to the middle, I could see the characters not going toward the ending I had planned. Maggie seemed to have a mind of her own and expressed it in my head very well.

Why did you pick a woman in her 40s as your main protagonist?

I chose a woman in her forty’s because I think that’s the time that many women start to look at their lives and wonder what’s next. I had originally thought about writing a nonfiction book, so I created a survey and put it online, and asked women to fill it out anonymously. The survey had many questions about the women’s relationships with their partner/spouse, and how they dealt with conflict, money, sex, and romance in their relationships. When I started reading the surveys that came in, I noticed so many similarities in the women that answered the questions. Since my background is in fiction, I decided to create a story with a main character, who would be dealing with similar issues as the women I surveyed.

Does the book contain an underlying message? What do you hope your readers will take away from this?

I hope the reader takes away from the novel that they aren’t alone. Many women don’t share their struggles, or they think no one else has those same struggles of feeling like they don’t know what to do with their lives. Society tells us that as you age (especially for women) that it’s difficult to get back into the working world or to change your circumstances.  That just isn’t true. Mid-life is just the middle, not the end and there are so many years to be productive and do what you enjoy.

According to readers, the story takes some surprising turns. Did you plan it all out before you started writing or did some of it just "happen" along the way?

I didn’t plan it all out. I started without an outline, which I’d never do again. When I got to the middle of the novel, I got stuck. At that point, I sat down and wrote an outline, but even with that, the story changed as I went along, and certain things jumped out at me that would be fun twists and turns for the story.

Which of your characters was the most challenging to create?

The most challenging character for me to write was when the father went through his issues. I needed to do lots of research because I wanted the story to be as accurate as possible. I met with a neuropsychologist and joined Facebook groups to read and observe what someone would go through medically and emotionally. I’m thrilled that the comments I’ve gotten from people who have faced the same issues, or their caregivers are that I got it right.

Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?

My average day is that I wake up around 7:30, then I go to a workout class. Exercise gets me going in the morning and gets my brain in the right place to start writing. I usually start around 10:00 and except for lunch or doing the laundry or errands, I am either at the computer promoting After Happily Ever After or working on my next book.

What are you working on right now?

I am finishing up another draft of my second novel titled, THE STORIES WE CAN NOT TELL. It’s about two women from quite different backgrounds who meet in a support group when they both face similar tragedies. It’s the story of their friendship, and how they find that they have more in common than they ever would’ve thought. They support each other through laughter and tears and come to understand what the word family really means. There’s also a love story.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

Readers can read my Huffington Post essays either on Huffington Post
 or on my website at
https://www.lesliearasmussen.com. They can also find me and follow me at: 
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/leslierauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterhappilyeverafternovel/
Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/leslierauthor
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesliearasmussen/