Mia Like Crazy

by Cordoba, Nina

  When we were in the car, I asked, “Are we going to lock ourselves in the apartment to celebrate?”

  “Not even close,” he said. “We’ve got plane reservations. When I woke up at five o’clock this morning, I called Meridith’s assistant to get her travel agent’s number. She found a resort in Mexico where the rooms look like little grass huts. We’re going for a week, and I’ll even let you keep the place as messy as you want.”

  “From clean-freak hermit to messy tourist overnight,” I exclaimed. “Gee, Drew, you’re scaring me.”

  “See, I knew you were afraid of me!” he said cheerfully, as he turned the car out of Meridith’s drive and onto the main road.

  ~ ~ ~

  Want to know more? To get a glimpse of Drew and Mia’s lives 20 years later, read Mia’s confession about why she quit the law firm and learn secrets about Drew, Mia and Meridith not included in the book, visit Nina Cordoba’s blog at ninacordoba.com (http://ninacordoba.com/Blog), “Book Extras” category.

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  Inspirations:

  Mia Like Crazy is fiction and Drew and Mia are fictional characters. This is the place in my books where I usually talk about people, places, and things that inspired me to write the novel. However, the people who inspired this story (who were close to me over the years) would not want their names publicized. In fact, like many in their situations, they don’t want to think of themselves as victims at all and speak of these things rarely. But not speaking of them doesn’t make the repercussions less real.

  I dedicated this book to “the ones who never stopped trying” because many who have experienced the kind of physical or emotional pain Drew and Mia suffered don’t throw in the towel. They try. And when their childhood traumas slip back into their subconscious and cause them to fall, they get up and try again. Few people they come in contact with are ever aware of their struggles.

  Drew and Mia’s issues are a compilation from several friends and loved ones, who were physically abused, emotionally abused, felt unloved or neglected by parents, and/or suffered the effects of racism. In their adult lives, they must overcome trust issues, intimacy issues, anger, memory loss, blocking of feelings, and are sometimes unsure of their own motivations. But still they try.

  And to the one who is gone who I never achieved closure with: I love you and thank you for trying so very hard. You did change things as much as you possibly could, and for anything left over, I have forgiven you long ago.

  Acknowledgements:

  This book would still not be published if it weren’t for two special people who are unusually and uniquely intelligent and helpful to me.

  Thanks a bujillion to Author Suzan Harden who offers brilliant suggestions, knows all kinds of surprising things, and who is kind enough to read my whiny emails when I get discouraged. I appreciate the encouragement (or kick-in-the-pants tough love, when appropriate), as well as your hard critiquing/editing work on my behalf.

  As always, thanks to my wonderful Abel. You enable me in all the right ways.