The Moment It Started to Feel Real: Mariame Cisse on Bringing The Mother Who Dreams to the World

By Mariame Cisse

After confirming that no further corrections were needed for my manuscript, I received the Kindle e-book to check the layout and formatting.

This was no longer just a manuscript I had been working on, editing, correcting and talking about for months. It was becoming a real book.

And this is where it really started to feel real.

For so long, The Mother Who Dreams has existed as words on pages, ideas in my head, stories from my life, lessons I had learned, and a message I felt deeply called to share.

But seeing it as an actual book on my screen was different.

Suddenly, I was looking at something that would soon leave my hands and make its way into the hands of other people.

And honestly?

I’m excited.

But I’m nervous too.

Because this is BIG.

Writing a book is one thing. Putting your story, your experiences, your struggles, your lessons and your heart into words is another. But knowing that those words will soon be available for people to read, connect with, question, reflect on and perhaps even see themselves in… that feels very different.

The Mother Who Dreams is deeply personal to me.

It is not simply a book about motherhood. It is about the woman behind the role of mother. The woman who loves her children deeply, carries responsibilities, makes sacrifices, faces uncertainty, and sometimes puts her own dreams on hold while trying to keep everything else together.

It is about the mothers who may have forgotten parts of themselves somewhere along the way.

The mothers who still have dreams.

The mothers who keep going even when life does not look anything like they imagined.

And in many ways, I wrote this book from a place of knowing.

My own journey through motherhood has included difficult seasons, uncertainty, sacrifice, single motherhood, rebuilding, and 12 relocations with my children. There were moments when I had very little certainty about what tomorrow would look like, but I kept moving forward.

There were times when I had to remind myself that being a mother did not mean that I had to disappear as a woman.

That lesson became part of the heart of this book.

Motherhood is a part of who you are, but it was never meant to become all of who you are.

I want mothers to know that their dreams still matter.

Not because they have to achieve everything at once.

Not because they need to become someone else.

But because there is still a woman underneath all the responsibilities, and she deserves to be seen too.

That is the message I hope The Mother Who Dreams carries into the world.

So when I received the Kindle version and opened it to check the layout and formatting, I found myself feeling a mixture of emotions.

Excitement.

Nerves.

Gratitude.

And a little disbelief.

Because after everything it took to get here, the book is now getting closer to becoming something that other people can actually hold, read and experience.

I know there will be mothers who pick it up during a difficult season.

I know there may be women who read a particular story and think, “That’s me.”

I also know there will be mothers who will start pursuing their dreams.

And perhaps someone will close the book feeling a little less alone.

That thought means more to me than I can explain.

I don’t know exactly where this book will go or whose hands it will reach.

But I know why I wrote it.

I wrote it because I believe mothers deserve to hold their children and hold their dreams.

I wrote it because our stories matter.

And I wrote it because sometimes the woman who is constantly showing up for everyone else also needs someone to remind her that she is allowed to keep becoming.

So yes, I’m excited.

I’m nervous.

I’m grateful.

And I’m taking it all in.

For now, I’m simply looking at these pages and saying:

Alhamdulillah.

What started as a dream is getting closer to becoming a book.

And soon, The Mother Who Dreams will no longer belong only to me.

It will belong to every mother who sees a piece of herself within its pages.

And that thought is both terrifying and beautiful.

The launch is fast approaching. Stay close, because The Mother Who Dreams will soon be yours to read.