5 Days Until Launch

Things are quiet and normal. It doesn’t really feel like I have a book coming out in five days. I’m not sure what I thought it would feel like — a frenzy, so many emails to respond to, so many things to do and plan. But as I’ve mentioned in some of my earlier newsletters, publishing is a mysterious, opaque beast, and while there certainly are a lot of things happening behind the scenes, I am usually unaware of them. I’m left to speculate, to hope, to worry, and to google Spells to Mend Broken Hearts to make sure that it will, in fact, come out.

My apartment complex has a package room, and there’s a fifty-fifty shot that any given package will either be put in a locker or in an unlocked room that anyone can walk into. If it’s the latter, there’s no email notification and there’s also a chance that someone might snatch your package. I’ve been waiting for the author’s copies of my book to arrive, which means that I’ve been walking over to the unlocked package room twice a day just to “check.” It feels like the physical manifestation of me googling my book — does the book exist? Nope, not yet!

Outside of these whiny musings, I am ridiculously excited. I’m going to have a party with some close friends next week, my brother will be in town to celebrate, and I’m having a book launch event at Birdhouse Books on the 18th. I’ve arranged to sign some books at local bookstores, and despite my track record at being bad at celebrating my accomplishments, I’m determined to soak it all in.

And in the meantime, things are normal and quiet. Picking up my nanny kid from school, trying to leash train my kitten (going surprisingly well), keeping up with admin stuff at We Luv Video, reading too many books at once. I’ve been working on several writing projects, an adult novel that is now DONE (!!!!) and about to go out to editors, and a middle-grade graphic novel pitch that we’re wrapping up. My current project is a screenplay based on a bizarre experience I had going back to my High School after graduation. Though it seems the closer I get to launch day, the harder it’s been to sit down and write. Maybe it’s the bubbling excitement, the fixation on checking the package room, or just daydreaming about how it will feel to visit a bookstore and see my name on the spine of a book.

Aaaaand now for a little self-promotion!

• If you’re in Austin, I would love to see you come to my book launch event on the 18th! RSVP HERE. After party and pizza at La La’s Little Nugget after.

• You can still pre-order, and pre-ordering is super helpful for authors! There’s a B&N Pre-Order sale through 9/11.

And really, truly, a huge thank you to all the friends and family who have been so incredibly supportive. Seeing everyone else excited has made me more excited, and I can’t wait for people to actually be able to read it!

Alright, off to go check the package room.