Weird Coincidences, Accidents and My New Novel

So, almost a month ago now, Natalie and I were in a car accident that completely totaled our car, and should have killed us. But, very thankfully, did not. I told you the story of the accident…

But now I’m going to tell you about the REALLY WEIRD THING that happened DURING the accident.

I’d been done working on The Vampire Next Door for a few weeks at that point. Natalie was doing her final edits and read-throughs of the book, and–as I do–I launched myself wholeheartedly and excitedly into my next book project.

“I want to write a story about falling in love with an angel,” I told Natalie. I had the whole story in my head, and the characters, and I loved them both already. I wanted the book to be funny and sweet and light-hearted, but I also wanted it to be sexy and romantic and full of that special angst of “can they really be together?” that’s one of my favorite parts of writing…that, and the finally getting together. 🙂

I loved my characters so, so much. Erin, the main character, is a television news reporter, and she’s got a great sense of humor and lease on life, but her love life is in shambles…she also seems to have a gift for getting into dangerous trouble…

And then comes Gabrielle, a beautiful, mysterious woman who saves Erin from being run over by a car. Gabrielle, who swears she’s Erin’s guardian angel.

The day of the accident, OUR accident, I wrote the very first scene where Erin almost gets run over by a car. I worked tirelessly on that scene, sculpting it to exactly what I wanted it to be. This is the first glimpse we get of Gabrielle, and I love her character so much. I wanted her to be sexy and funny and I wanted her to shine.

When I was done working on it, Natalie and I went to the craft store…

Fast forward to driving home. Fast forward to the man running the red light. I was talking about my book when it happened–I remember that, as the truck crashed into us, talking about my book. I remember the car spinning, over and over, pummeling into the oncoming traffic…

Now, here’s the really weird part.

We’d been talking about angels that day, Natalie and I. Like my main character Erin in my novel, I’m not really sure if I believe in angels or not. There have been a lot of weird circumstances in my life (like a warm, soft voice in my head, the day I drowned when I was twelve, saying that it was going to be okay, and that help was on its way. It was okay, and someone saved me right when that voice spoke) that I always chalked up to “I’m not sure what that was, but I appreciated it when it happened.” I’m not a skeptic–I’m actually very woo woo. 🙂 I collect crystals, believe in magic and fairies, and I’ve been to more than my fair share of drum circle dances (and still go to them!). But I’m uncertain about angels, so I’ve never made up my mind about them.

Well, when the accident happened, I threw my arm in front of Natalie, to try to protect her. I said her name, over and over again, and “baby” and “I love you.”

And then, Natalie says, I said something else.

She says that I repeated, over and over, from the moment that the guy in the truck hit us, to the moment that we were standing still, having hit oncoming traffic and spinning several times:

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

When she told me that’s what I said, after the accident, after we crawled out of the broken car, I stared at her, shocked.

“Baby, I didn’t say that,” I told her carefully. “Why would I say that? I didn’t know if it’d be okay. I hoped it would be okay…but why would I say that in the middle of the accident?”

She stared at me with wide eyes. “I don’t know,” she told me quietly. “I didn’t know why you were saying it, but the moment you said it, even though we were in the middle of the accident…I felt peace come over me. Absolute, calm peace. I don’t know where it came from.”

We stared at one another, and then we embraced, and I held her tightly.

I don’t believe that I actually said those words. I believe, very much, that someone else said those words. I believe, very much, that someone was protecting us that day. We should be dead, but we aren’t.

This novel, The Guardian Angel has become something so, so special to me because of the circumstances around writing it, and exactly what happened the day that I wrote that almost-accident scene…and we had an accident of our own. It was a miracle, what happened to us that day, an absolute miracle…

Was it because of an angel? I’m not sure. 🙂 But it’s inexplicable, what happened, how we survived…and miracles, and angels have a tendency to go hand in hand. 🙂

Now, almost a month after the accident, my book is almost done. I can’t wait to share it with you. 🙂 The Guardian Angel should be out very soon. Sign up to be notified the minute it’s released!