All the News that’s Fit to Eat
Hello freaks and geeks,
What? You’re not a freak OR a geek? What are you doing here?
Just kidding. Please don’t go.
How the heck is everybody? Around these parts, the last day of school is just 13 sleeps away and summer is beckoning with promises of beaches and sunshine and swimming pools and vacations, which means everyone is hysterical with joy and anticipation.
Maybe that’s just me? My two remaining school-aged children march into their school buildings each day, expressionless and rolling their eyes at me because apparently, at 14 and 17, excitement is for nerds. Totally beta.
Anyway, in writerly news, I just got back from a fabulous weekend at the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Annual Writing Conference, and it was all kinds of fabulous. I look forward to seeing old friends each year, making new ones, forging connections, learning loads from the exceptional speakers, winning a writing contest (or two, in this case–preen, preen) and generally having The Best Time. Our keynote this year was none other than the amazing Jim Butcher (of The Dresden Files fame) and believe me when I say he was FANTASIC. He gave a talk on the importance of persistence that I shall never forget (it made me cry).
Oh, and this time I even got to BE a speaker! I gave two presentations, one on demystifying the art of writing poetry, and the other on crafting more poetic prose. Both were well-attended (way better than I expected) and I got lots of positive feedback from those who came. I was heart-poundingly, dry-mouthedly (mouthedly?) nervous for the first session, less so for the second, and I hope to do more of it in the future.
Oddly enough, I got a call from my kid’s high school English teacher as soon as I got home, asking if I would be willing to give some talks on writing poetry next week. It will be quite a different crowd (captive teenagers rather than willing adults), but hopefully I can keep them from falling asleep on me or shooting spitballs. Do kids still shoot spitballs? We shall see. I’m looking forward to it!
Also, I’m releasing a book! This one is actually the very first novel I ever wrote, way back some 14 years ago. I thought I would be embarrassed reading through it again after all this time, but at the end I though goddamn if this isn’t a great story. It was also the first novel I published on KDP, eager to see my name on a print book, never thinking to get an editor or beta readers, having zero readership, and I used a stock cover, to boot (horrors!). My, my, how far I have come since then.
Needless to say, I polished it up, fixed some plot holes, cut scenes, added scenes, and sent it packing to my editor. Made a real cover, too. Here’s the blurb, aka back cover copy:
At twenty-two years old, Madeline King is already familiar with the inside of a mental institution. Bipolar and prone to emotional instability, she lives on the Gulf Coast of Alabama and spends her days writing stories that no one ever reads. Her doting older brother checks in on her regularly, but the only other person she calls a friend is Nick, a young man she met in the hospital. She never dares hope for more than simply surviving the turbulence of her own heart until a family of eleven vacations on her beach. The eldest son, affable and handsome Reuben, catches her eye, and the other family members welcome her into their vibrant and loving chaos. But can Madeline find the courage to be real with people who are “normal”? Before she can find out, tragedy strikes, and she turns to Nick for solace, only to find more than friendship waiting. Will Madeline finally learn that life is an adventure worth living and love a risk worth taking, or will she retreat back into the familiar but confining safety of her self-made shell?
It’s Not Supposed to be Pretty contains some frank descriptions of the inside of the bipolar mind and as such is somewhat autobiographical. While I, your friendly neighborhood bipolar person, have not gone through tragedies such as Madeline does, I drew from the deep, deep well of my own experiences in order to bring her character to life.
Some stories come from the heart. This one came from my guts.
The novel will be released this month, so stay tuned for that announcement if it sounds like something you’d like to read whilst sitting poolside or beachside or deckside or even couchside, as may be the case. If you read it in its first iteration 14 years ago as Skip to the End, I hope you will give it another perusal in its newly shiny, polished form.
That’s all I got! Be well and may your summer be sunburn-free and ice-cream full!
Give your breath long-lasting freshness with Big Red,
J.W. Rose