Book Feature: Lagomoia ‘One More Sunrise’

“Writing this book has been quite an adventure.”

BOOK REVIEW

One More Sunrise, is a beautifully crafted book separated into three different categories of poetry, letters, and prose, including a Q&A section, written by Lagomoia.

Chapter one starts the book with a lot of information that may overwhelm the reader, but in-turn tune them into the topics faced in this section. She appreciates the temporary gift of the sun and ocean meeting everyday, which is a beautiful metaphor of love and to appreciate the finer things in life. Discussing the struggle of a creative mind and ambitious heart becoming best friends with insomnia, was a perfect addition to this book in the sense it allows the reader to dive deeper into the storytelling of the book, and many will resonate with this too.

There’s a lot of self-awareness when reading One More Sunrise, to accept mistakes made and acknowledge the learning outcomes. With a lot of emotion of highs and lows written, it is hard for the reader to not think back on similar situations that the writer beautifully penned. There’s confidence in this storytelling, especially once she talks about how a lover molded her heart back together after enemies tore it apart.

It’s definitely a thought-provoking book that will capture the reader's attention from the moment the book is opened. Beginning with love, to confusing yet certain she loves them, to exposing “cheating is a choice,” the writer truly brings the reader on a journey where there’s no sugar coating the harash details, penning her devotion to rejection, and tales for those who need them most, almost as reassurance that things will eventually work out in one’s favour.

Chapter two is the letter section of the book. With the first letter titled “to the girl he chose over me,” there’s an immediate gut-wrenching feeling present as the writer spills to her heart’s depth. Then writing to the girl before her, there’s a realisation there’s a need for peace with insecurities in-turn showing a lot of growth. “You are the instrument of the meaning of forgiveness,” she pens. There’s a lot of heartfelt writing diving deeper into herself. “I am the girl that got away,” she realises. There’s a sense that things will be okay when she loves someone even after all the hurt but still wishes them well. Although some letters were hard to read having experienced similar situations, there’s one unbelievably beautiful piece where she describes falling in love with someone new delicately in a poetic tone which can be interpreted into anything, but this is a clear self-love act.

Talking through heartbreaks, victories, and grieving in raw and emotional writings everything appears tragic, yet full of grace. With some realisations in plain sight of knowing this love affair was beyond their youth, in-turn brings the reader on a journey full of emotions that will cut open old wounds and heal right through. In the final letter titled ‘my last letter to you’, she writes, “it’s all worth it.”

The book will resonate with many throughout the different themes of love, forgiveness, healing, and giving out countless chances. So, in chapter three, it’s refreshing to see an encouraging mood present to move forward. Going on to discuss deserving love, she writes, “the love you deserve will find you,” in a hopeful tone that shows her growth from the start of the book. This part has more empowerment and relatability to it making the book a further interesting read.

Over the 140-page book, there’s a lot discussed over different mediums of writing like poetry, prose, letters. . .that will keep the reader interested in the next chapter on what to expect. In the Q&A part of the book in chapter four, it’s almost like talking to a friend with open communication and support making it a pleasant read.

Moving on to chapter five where there’s a sense of longing, finding purpose, creating happiness, and realising each individual is in charge of their own life.

Overall, One More Sunrise, is an inspiring read with empowering storytelling from love to love to realising there will always be one more sunrise.

Words by Danielle Holian

INTERVIEW

Tell us a bit about your writing background. And what, or who, inspired you to start writing?

I have no writing background to be honest, but here's my story on how I ended up writing a book. Back in elementary, I was 9 I believe, I started to write daily in my journal. I would write how my day went but would always end up expressing my feelings and emotions towards people surrounding me. As you can imagine, I have more than 5 journals by now. As the years passed, my writing changed into writing letters. Right now, I have a journal where I put all of my prayers and hopes for the future, a journal for my future husband and one where I write all of my deep thoughts (most especially ‘note to self’).

But here are two people that really pushed me to write: I remember, back in high school, we had a guest who happened to be a writer. We were asked to write a poem. As she read them all, she picked mine. It was her favorite and decided to display it in the hallway. (TMI: but that was the year I was the most depressed, failed all my classes, and almost got kicked out. So, the fact that she picked mine was like a dim light for me.) Fast forward to my senior year in college, was an exchange student (NY). My landlord was a literature teacher, and we had many conversations about life mostly, but the day that I had to give back my keys, she told me: “I see you as a writer or a teacher. I don't know, I just sense it.” I started a blog back in 2016 (on and off) and finally during this lockdown in March, I had this urge to write, and that is where it all started.

And what influenced your debut poetry collection ‘One More Sunrise'?

One More Sunrise is a title super close to my heart. I consider myself a very blessed person. I believe there is no way to measure one's pain with another person, but I have been through a lot, even at my youngest age. ‘One more sunrise’ makes me think, or I should say, it makes me believe that every morning is another chance for us to change, to heal, to forgive, and to become the person that we want to be.

How do you find the balance between writing about your own personal experiences and exploring topics that may not necessarily be autobiographical, but still speak to so many people?

To be honest, it's not really about finding a balance between my personal life and other aspects of my life. Writing for me is a part of me. Like I've mentioned before, I've been writing ever since I was a kid, so I consider it as a part of me. Whenever I have strong emotions about anything I grab a pen or type all of it on my notes so I could let it out. It's my way to let go of things, to accept that it happened, and to move forward. I know it's super cliché but it really works for me. Especially when I used to have panic attacks.

What makes a piece of your writing right to post on your Instagram, versus the ones that stay in the book?

Okay so what I post on my Instagram is what I have meditated on during the day, sometimes I'll post a small piece of a letter/poem from the book if I know people would relate to it.

And finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Anyone can write, but not everyone can connect to the depth of the soul. People love when they read something that they can relate to, whether it is a feeling, an emotion, an experience etc. So as a writer, we have to be both empathic and apathetic (you have to be somewhere in between) in order to develop.