UD alumna pens hopeful novel after tragedy
By: Missy Finnegan – Staff Writer
UD alumna who goes by the pseudonym D.D. Marx (‘92) is flying high as the author of “Beyond Believing.” A story that stems from real events, “Beyond Believing” is a romantic comedy that focuses on hope, faith and believing in things unseen.
Sadly, the entertaining story is inspired from a tragic event: Marx lost one of her best friends to a car accident in 1993.
“It changed me forever,” she said.
The novel follows Olivia, a young woman struggling to grieve the sudden death of her best friend, Dan. As life continues to throw her curve balls, Olivia embarks on a new journey, one that just might lead her to love.
Marx reached a point in her life where she found herself unemployed and realized she could take the opportunity to fill an empty space she felt inside of herself.
“I didn’t know what was next,” Marx said. “I dug deep to soul search, and I always wanted to write a book. I wanted it to be relatable—and I could share our friendship with the world.”
“It had been in me for so long, it literally poured out of me,” Marx said of her writing experience. In total, it took nine months; however, the condensed writing of the novel only took about 30 days. “I didn’t want to be influenced by anyone else, and then I could go back and edit.” This allows Marx’s voice to flow and tell her story, while tweaking parts to add to the fiction, wit and style of the novel.
A coming of age novel, the concepts and ideas in the story come from Marx’s own experiences, specifically as an undergraduate at the University of Dayton. She describes the experience as “the best four years of her life,” not an unusual statement from an alum. Marx’s emphasis on making lifelong friends while receiving a great education brought her happiness.
She says the storyline pertains to being young and invincible and then entering into the world and feeling that your path is predefined. Although this was the case for Marx for years after her graduation, it eventually led her to write a book, which she felt she was supposed to be doing.
“I wish at a younger age I would have [listened] to intuition and where I should be going,” Marx said, offering this as a bit of advice to current UD students.
“Beyond Believing,” is the first book in a trilogy. Readers can look forward to “Beyond Love” and “Beyond Forever.” Marx said she found there was a great deal of content and detail for the first novel, and that a second and a third would bring the stories of the characters together. “Beyond Love” is currently in progress.
You can purchase “Beyond Believing” at the University of Dayton bookstore or on amazon.com. Book cover image courtesy of the author’s site.