By Dylan Deprey
“UnBitter II” is a collection of love poems and transcripts that give a snapshot into an author’s relationship, while writing her first book. (Photo by Xerione_Illustration)
Diana “Dye” Mora was at her most vulnerable.
She felt a tinge of success after releasing her first book “Bitter” in summer 2019.
The book was a collection of her journal entries, and poems, which detailed a tumultuous relationship that shattered her self-esteem. After the relationship, she spiraled through a promiscuous period and eventually self-realization.
Like every good comeback story, she had returned stronger. She was independent, with a no nonsense attitude for drama or negativity.
She revealed some of her most intimate moments in “Bitter.” As she opened the door for readers to peak into her life, she had to take a break from the world. She unplugged from social media and spent time with family and traveled.
When she returned to “real life,” the feedback was not what she expected. While the book was Mora in her rawest form, friends and close acquaintances all said the same thing, “something was missing.”
“I went back, soul searched and I realized there was something missing. If I wanted to be my realistic self, I had to give them all of it,” Mora said.
Technically, the “Dye” she revealed in “Bitter” was her true self. It narrated her transition from lost and broken, to strong and unwavering. Yet, her closest friends knew another side of her that nobody else had seen.
The legend goes that in the midst of trying to find herself, Mora met a guy in a similar situation.
She was liberated.
He pushed her to show her art and she began to fall in love again.
“You’re not elevating, if you’re not losing people, and that’s what I’ve been feeling.” Diana Mora. (Photo by NAI)
“While I was writing my book about my ex and my hoe-ish ways, I was writing him love poems and telling my friends how good it felt to be in love again,” Mora said.
Though she was in the opposite of a tumultuous relationship when she was writing “Bitter,” it was the chaotic, tailspin of her previous relationship that made her the unshakable, uncompromising woman everybody knew her as. While she introduced her heartbreak and hardening to the world in “Bitter,” she never thought the loving person she was behind-closed-doors needed to make an appearance.
“UnBitter II” is the love story behind the story.
“I’m falling in love, while I’m kind getting out of this slutty phase, and at the same time I’m losing friends right and left. So, I really had nobody to go to but myself and my journal. It’s the raw form, the truth. None of this was staged, like this was a real-life poem that I sent to this man, and he read it and wrote me back,” Mora said.
Alongside the depths of budding relationship, she introduces her first experiences with hometown notoriety.
While writing “UnBitter II” the friends she thought would be there, actually turned their backs on her. Her conscious knocked as new possibilities tested old friendships. She had to come to the realization that her vision of success might not equate with others.
“I’m turning down opportunities right and left because I don’t know how to be successful, and at the same time I’m losing friends because of what I already have. The title really is my life. I’m still learning how to become UnBitter and successful,” Mora said.
Unlike the elaborate release party for her first book, “UnBitter II” will be a very limited release.
Mora plans to only sell 50 copies. She said it was her timestamp during her time on Burleigh.
“I feel like there’s nobody in Milwaukee telling their complete raw story from the perspective of a sexually liberated woman. This is how I felt during the most intimate moments. This is it. you’re probably not going to get lovey-dovey Diana ever again,” Mora said.
Presale for “UnBitter II” opens on April 30, 2020. Visit NatureallyDye on social media platforms.