New Book Day!
A pleasure that never gets old
When I was in the fifth grade, I finished the book I was reading (I was, as most writers are, a bookworm of the highest measure) and flipped through the end papers to read the author bio. I can’t remember the book or the writer, but I clearly have a sense of myself sprawling on the bed I shared with my sister in our teeny-tiny back bedroom. I loved the book and just wanted more, so the author bio gave me that. A photo of a woman, maybe in a nature setting.
I thought to myself, is writing books a job?
And then, if it is, why would you ever do anything else?
Issue of my career path resolved, I marched out to the kitchen and told my mother I was going to be a writer when I grew up. She probably murmured something modestly encouraging—that’s nice—but I don’t remember that part either.
A few days later, my best friend Cynthia and I were walking home from school, and a boy I liked was outside mowing the grass. He didn’t have a shirt on, and he was beautiful in a way I hadn’t ever noticed before, even though I had declared I liked him many months before (only to Cynthia, of course, never to him). Both of us, newly flushed with the onset of pre-adolescence, stared.
Cynthia announced, “I’m going to make him my boyfriend.”
I was inwardly outraged—it was against girl code because she knew I liked him—I had no chance if she so desired this union. She already had breasts. She was tall. I was still skinny and flat and wore a lot of hand-me-downs.
But out of my mouth flew the magic words. “Well, I don’t care, because I’m going to be a writer when I grew up.”
I felt the weight of those words, and so did she. Both of us were impressed. We loved reading way more than boys.
Without a single doubt, I went home, opened a notebook made of multiple colors of paper—blue and pink and green and yellow—and started my first novel. It was about a girl who discovered she was a witch and had to hide it from her family.
From that day to this, I have never been without a novel in progress. I wrote five novels before I graduated high school, all for the sheer joy of it, the excitement of finding out what would happen, the deliciousness of getting lost in another world. Writing is like reading, only you get to read the book for a year or more.
And today is New Book Day! My newest novel, Memories of the Lost is out in the world. It’s the story of Tillie, who in the book description, is an unsuspecting artist who uncovers her late mother’s secrets and unravels her own hidden past.
The book is woven of many of my favorite things, painting and art, which is no surprise; the mysterious and beautiful Devon, England countryside where I am lucky enough to have relatives to visit; the numinous blog Myth and Moor by Terry Windling1, one of fantasy’s great writers and editors (I named Tillie for a being in her life); New Zealand and New York City and the possibilities of fate. I can’t wait for you to meet Tillie and Liam, Clare and Sage, the host of rescued animals who live on the Devon farm—a hare who can’t hop and a dog who can’t see—and follow the mystery of Tillie and her mother.
Hope you’ll take a look at my latest offering. My younger self and I are still having a grand time scribbling stories. Enjoy!
Did you have a dream as a child? Did you have the luck to fulfill it? Or did life take you another way? Let me know in the comments.
Happy New Book Day! I just got my copy!
I loved hearing about your childhood dream and am so amazed by your decision and determination as such a young person. It was very endearing. When I finish a good book, I too, never want it to end and read any scrap front to back to gain any insights into the author or the characters. I love author bios. I loved to write as a child and teen, but I don't know why I never thought of "writer" as a career. I was set on being a teacher because I loved school and thought that was the way to prolong that pleasure. I like how you describe how writing a novel is like getting to read a book but for over a year. Can't wait to read this!
Congratulations and I'm excited to read it!