So many seeds germinating…
I think it’s appropriate for me that I make big leaps in book progress in the springtime. I started writing the book for real in January 2018 with the help of a writing coach, and by the time the green grass was poking through, (April for me) I was getting up in the morning because the book wanted to be born. It wanted me to get it out of my head in the early morning when time was mine. Following springtimes were edits and enough pitching for me to realize I don’t want my energy there. And now, I am halfway through my last round of edits, hence the last two weekends without the loveliness of this blog (and Easter…was spending time showering chocolate on my boys). Maybe by the time this goes up I’ll be even more than halfway…goals. And I’m waiting for my graphic designer to finish reading the manuscript and toss out some ideas for a cover and for marketing.
I have to work on my internal voices that are pressing me to have a more concrete timeline. Other than making sure I make steady progress and sit with my edits on a regular basis, that’s all I need. Life is all process and showing up when you can. I’ll be happy to announce a release date, but for now, my energy is on making this book really shine. And getting used to this blog format. And the seeds I’m starting inside for the first time ever that are already springing to life. And probably preparing for another round of chicks in a few weeks.
Okay, so we are here for book progress, I hope, but I’m definitely going to deliver a book review today too. I read less when I was really banging this sucker out because my brain space was absorbed in plotting but slowing down reading now when I am just on edits…nah.
Just Listen, Sarah Dessen
Annabel is one of those girls who, if you don’t really know her, you spend your teen years wishing fervently that you were her. That is, before the point where this story opens, where she is starting school for a new year following her best friend dropping her and turning the school against her. Add in a sister with a serious emotional illness and a mother whose happiness hangs on Annabel’s modeling career that frankly, she’s kind of over, and Annabel is holding in her truth to the point where she’s letting it sink her socially and with her family. Of course she meets an unlikely connection, because when you’re at the bottom is when the best people show up. A connection that speaks his truth all the time and encourages her to do the same.
I dared call myself a YA author without ever having read Sarah Dessen. Even with all the agents who like her and are looking for something similar. This book makes the high school trope and the unexpected boy and the family that looks perfect on the outside compelling and multi-layered. Anyone who reads this blog likely knows that empathy building is so important in all books but especially YA, and I have had plenty of teenagers who see me regularly because they’re struggling with things that their peers would never even guess at. These books are important. And yes, I know high school for YA can be overdone but I don’t mind that setting, and a lot can change in the four years that one is preparing for adulthood. And it is absolutely a time when unexpected and unusual relationships of the time change us. So this is good without being overdone. Annabel is pretty enough to be a model but she’s not the prettiest sister nor is it always talked about in the story. And it deals with darker themes and the good that comes from speaking up when you need to. I talk a lot with my kids about how to speak up when they need to and being assertive versus being aggressive. And being okay with yourself no matter how it’s received.
Anyway, my lovelies, I always appreciate comments, likes and shares. I hope they still work on this platform. In a moment of transparency I am still working on all the features.
