NEW YORK, NY – Yvette Manessis Corporon was an award-winning producer who felt unfulfilled.
“I’m gonna say it off the top. I get it. I know how lucky I am,” she tells PEOPLE. “But like so many women, I was in the weeds of it, and I was so depleted and again, very mindful of the fact that I was fortunate to have a job, and healthy children, and a roof over my head.”
The Extra producer initially resolved to let life pass her by. And then, she met Carrie Underwood. The ‘Jesus Take The Wheel’ singer had just won American Idol in 2004 and was overjoyed to begin her music career.
“She was just joyful, and she even said to me, ‘Oh, I studied journalism. I was going to do what you do, and I never dreamed that I would be able to make a career out of singing,’ ” Corporon tells PEOPLE.
“And she was just levitating. She was so joyous, and I remember looking at her and saying, ‘That’s what’s missing from my life.’”
Corporon decided to regain her sense of fulfillment by delving back into writing. She set her alarm for 4 a.m., which gave her time to write before heading off to work. What evolved was a fiction book, When the Cypress Whispers, with a storyline that leaped off the pages.
Now, the producer-turned-author is ready to debut her fourth book, Daughter of Ruins, which releases on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
“I do hope that when people hear my story that they realize that it is okay to take the time to chase your own dream while you’re raising your children,” Corporon says of her decision to write a book after finding success as a producer. “I think it’s important,” she adds.
“Not everyone wants to write a book, not everyone needs to run a marathon. But whatever fills you,” Corporon says. “I just know we lose sight of ourselves and our passions and our dreams. And I became a better mother; I became a better partner [after I regained my passion].”