My first book

Somewhere in my constantly overstimulated brain of ideas, I have known for most of my life that I wanted to be a writer. The problem has always been where to start. I have had more book ideas than I have had pets, which, if you know me, you know that’s a lot. 

At one point, I wanted to write a book called How to Make Friends in Germany (Hint: You Can’t!). But too much time had passed since living in Germany, and no book had manifested itself. Then I moved on to my next obsession: animal rescue. I had collected a bazillion heart-wrenching and heartwarming stories about animals’ search for their perfectly loving forever homes. Alas, no book manifested itself there either. 

Once again, time passed, and I moved on in search of the perfect story I could turn into my first book.

In 2020, I was living with Steph, my girlfriend at the time, who was from Switzerland. We had been together for about a year and a half, almost the exact amount of time she had been driving in the United States. Because her driving history here was so short, her car insurance was sky high. She was treated like a risky teenage driver. 

One day, I noticed Steph’s insurance renewal information, along with her new invoice, lying on the kitchen counter. I barely glanced at the piece of paper, but the total on the invoice caught my eye immediately. $3000. For just six months of coverage. I was in shock. 

That kind of a bill seemed like a small, unknown company preying on immigrants who have few options. I was convinced that a better insurance company with more resources could provide her with a cheaper premium and perhaps better coverage. I offered to reach out to my insurance provider to explore pricing. Although initially reluctant, Steph agreed.

And so I called.

I had been using this insurance company my whole life. My parents had used this company when I was growing up, and once I was independent I decided to remain loyal. When I moved back from Germany, my auto insurance and eventually my home owner’s insurance were with the same company and even the same agent. When I moved to Atlanta, I used the same company but used a local agent for my renter’s insurance, a policy I shared with Steph.

Aaliyah, the office administrator, was kind and helpful. We chatted about the pandemic. How crazy life seemed. What the future might hold for the world. After that, I moved on to the reason for my call: Steph. I explained the situation to Aaliyah and asked for her help.

She ran some numbers. Although she confirmed that the short driving history was, in fact, a bit of an impediment, she could offer a policy that was $800 cheaper for the six-month period. The catch, though, was that I had to be on the policy with her. Since I was a long-time client with multiple policies, Steph could reap the benefits. I told Aaliyah I would discuss it with Steph and call her back the next day.

That evening, Steph and I discussed the price and what it meant for us to be on car insurance together. For Steph, that felt like an enormous commitment that somehow robbed her of a little too much independence. I reassured her that we could cancel the policy if we were to break up and that she wouldn’t be penalized, other than having to return to an insanely high premium expense. Again, she reluctantly agreed.

The next morning, before I could call Aaliyah back, she called me. 

“Good morning, Jennifer. Unfortunately, I have to change the quote I gave you from yesterday. The new price is about $18 more than I thought.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. It’s not significant. I am curious, though, why it changed.”

“Well, when I ran your driving history, I saw that Sascha had had an accident in 2016. That makes Steph’s premium slightly more expensive.”

Hold on. This couldn’t be true. Sasha, my husband I had been separated from since before Steph and I started dating, was impacting the price of my current girlfriend’s car insurance. I needed a long second to wrap my brain around this reality.

“So, you can see my insurance policies in Indiana and in Georgia?”

“Yes.” Aaliyah gave the softest giggle.

“You probably have some questions. I bet my life looks really interesting from your perspective.”

“Well, let’s just say that if you wrote a book, I would read it.”

“Funny you should say that. I am an aspiring author, and you may have just helped me choose the subject of my first book.”

The giggle was louder. “Let me know when it’s done.”

And from that unexpected conversation, 2.0 You are awesome! was born. One month later, I started writing scenes that would eventually become part of the book. It would take me five years to complete it, but I still give Aaliyah a lot of the credit. After years of collecting ideas and imagining different books I might someday write, one completely ordinary phone call about car insurance finally made something click.

For the first time, I knew which story I wanted to tell first.