How a Memoir Got Birthed

​(or, How One Develops a New Set of Eyes)
 
As I announced in last month’s newsletter, my first book is scheduled for publication in 2025! Its title? Road Between Two Hearts: A Black American Bride Discovers Iran.
 
The story? It’s about me, a Black American Christian woman too ashamed to admit I am terrified to start a new life with my husband in his homeland: post-revolutionary Iran (1992-1996). The rest is what happens when I deny my true feelings, leave Columbus, Ohio, and follow him anyway.
 
So, it’s a memoir, a love story, a cross-cultural analysis, and a self-reflection—all rolled into one!

Leslie and Mahmoud when they met at The Ohio State University, 1984

But, how did this memoir come to be birthed in the first place? The answer can be found in the following excerpt from the memoir itself:

​Viewing the city in the company of family from my brother-in-law’s familiar sedan felt totally different from a view from the bus. It wasn’t long before riding the chaotic streets of Tehran left me exhilarated like no other moment did. A trusting backseat passenger, I’d stare out the car window and soak it all in: the hot wind that pleasantly grazed my face, the flowing black script of Persian on kelly green street signs, the sculpted gardens and old world fountains. There was the high rise of modern buildings and towers, the worn-down buildings of yesteryear, the remnants of history and old glories, the forgotten litter down back ravines.
 
Beyond the buildings was the smoky haze of heat and pollution, drifting above the surrounding stark blue mountains. Over time, my eyes would discern a subtler, deeper beauty beneath the blue: a mosaic of purples, grays, greens, pinks, and browns. Arrested by all these new sights and sensations in the middle years of my life, I felt the wonder of my childhood return to me.
 
 If only I could capture these memories and keep them alive on paper, I thought. It was in one of these moments on one of those rides that I promised myself I would  write a book.
 
--Excerpt from Road Between Two Hearts:
A Black American Bride Discovers Iran, Chapter 15
​(to be published in 2025; please stand by for updates)

Finally, Road Between Two Hearts is about how I developed a new pair of eyes toward the country, the culture, and the people of Iran. Just as a pitch black room at night gradually becomes easier to see as our eyes adjust, and just as an intricate painting, a complex movie, or the subtle range of colors along a mountainside become more distinguishable with each subsequent view, so my eyes perceived Iran differently over time.
 
Maybe that’s why when I was writing my story, I imagined telling it to fellow non-Iranians like perhaps many of you—most who have not had the opportunity to experience Iran and its people firsthand like I did. And while your reading my story as seen through my eyes may not lead you to the same impressions as mine, I hope it will at least leave you with new perspectives to ponder.  
 
Years before I met Mahmoud or knew I would fall in love with him, marry him, and start a new life with him in Iran, my sister Sylvia happened to share a favorite quotation of hers: “The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust). Little did I know how deeply relevant its message would become in my life, or how often its wisdom would challenge and enlighten me.
 
I hope you will follow me on my authoring journey—from now till my memoir is a published book! I can’t wait to share it with you; that’s why I wrote it! Please stay tuned for updates as they develop!
 
--Leslie