Holly Ducarte has proven that being an underdog writer and everyday challenges can’t stop her passion for story telling.
Ducarte, a local mom, massage therapist, and now author, recently launched her first novel ‘The Light Over Broken Tide,’ which took five years of hard work to pull together.
“It took a little longer, as I was also trying to get better at the craft of writing, so you know, taking writing courses and talking to the right people,” said Ducarte.
When it comes to writing, creating ideas, and building characters, writers have to entirely dedicate themselves to the craft, and sometimes completely isolate themselves from family.
“I’m very fortunate, because my husband is a teacher. He’d have evenings where he had to do lesson planning, so when our daughter went to sleep, I would be able to plug away my ideas and he’d be at the table too so I can bounce ideas off of him and he could also ask me about his lesson plan,” expressed Ducarte.
She added, “Graciously, my family always allows me to take some time alone to do this and I’d go away on writing retreats. Then I’m focused solely on that craft and I don’t have any other distractions.”
Ducarte started writing poems at a very young age, and tried to use her pieces as a therapy. Part of the inspiration for the novel came from similar experiences she had growing up and hearing stories of grief and mental illness, something she hopes her readers can relate to.
“I have a lot of similarities with the main character, the protagonist of the story. We aren’t neared, we’re not the same, but there are a lot of the things I could relate to in there. Obviously you put a little bit of yourself in your writing and in your character,” Ducarte noted. “I wanted to offer some glance of hope in a very grievous situation. I think people need to know there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
Prior to the launch of the book and making it accessible to the public, authors generally have to get a good feel from book reviewers and bloggers.
Ducarte said, “It’s been really positive, I have to say. They really took well to it. I received some really great five star and four star reviews. It’s stayed within four so it’s been really strong.”
Along the path of story telling, Ducarte established an audience through her work and she’s eager to keep up with readers’ expectations.
“I do have plans. I’m currently writing an adult historical, so it’s little bit different,” detailed Ducarte. “I feel like once you gain an audience with one book you really should continue with that audience because they will be expecting more.”
Overall, it wasn’t an easy ride for Ducarte to carry on her passion while simultaneously balancing her work and home life.
“In the midst of writing the novel, I was working at a physio clinic as a massage therapist. That’s what I’ve been doing a large part of my life for 10 years,” she stated.
Ducarte is grateful for the love and support of her family and readers. She believes that the book will motivate someone if they feel inclined to write, or inspire them to persevere in hard times.
She will be hosting a book-signing event at the Bonnyville Municipal Library on May 1 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
