The Pollyanna Plan

The lovely Talli Roland stopped in for a visit today!

 

 

 

A Little Pollyanna: The Power of Positive Thinking

 

Sounds like a late-night infomercial, doesn’t it? It almost makes me want to roll my eyes – can thinking about a situation optimistically really change its outcome? That question circled through my mind as I developed the plot of my latest novel, The Pollyanna Plan. In the book, main character Emma errs on the side of pessimism, believing it’s better to be ready for the worst. But when the worst does happen – despite all her mental preparations – Emma’s best friend convinces her to give positivity a try.

 

Emma’s struggle throughout the novel to view life in a different way reminded me just how hard it can be to escape our own conditioning. This is something I face every day, actually, in my own home life. Coming from a fundamentally optimistic country (Canada –or ‘La La Land’, as my husband calls it), I’ve been brought up to believe that with hard work and perseverance, almost anything is possible. On the other hand, my husband was raised in Egypt, where realism bordering on negativity is rife.

 

 

While I plunge ahead with the attitude things will inevitably turn out right, he’s much more cautious and analytical, thinking about what could go wrong. We’ve learned to meet in the middle, but our back-and-forth made me wonder if an individual like Emma could strike an internal compromise. Maybe it is possible to view life from more than one perspective, employing positivity tempered with common sense.

 

So does my ‘Negative Nelly’ main character find a balance that works for her, or does she became a New Age Pollyanna? Well, you’ll need to read to find out! I’ll say this, though: her journey has definitely forced me to examine my own attitudes!

 

Talli Roland writes fun, romantic fiction. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Despite training as a journalist, Talli soon found she preferred making up her own stories – complete with happy endings. Twice shortlisted for the UK’s Festival of Romance, Talli's novels have also been chosen as Amazon Customer Favourites and top books of the year by industry review websites. She’s a bestseller in Britain and the United States. To learn more about Talli, visit her Amazon Author Page, go to her website, follow her on Twitter, or check out her blog.