Plot Girl Walk #3
book updates, self promo, debuting, and what I've been up to
If I had a dollar for every time I told myself “you need to sit down and write another newsletter,” let’s just say I wouldn’t be writing this newsletter from my day job (which I’m absolutely under no circumstances doing *wink wink).
I kept meaning to write another one, but I’ve been working on book 2, completely neglecting all my other responsibilities which is probably why my life is in total disarray right now…
Anyways, I’m back with a few updates!
Book stuff:
Now through September 15th you can enter to win a free copy of WEDDING DASHERS over on Goodreads! Follow the link here to enter!
What I’m reading:
Last: I just finished Love and Other Conspiracies by my friend Mallory Marlowe and it was an absolute warm hug of a book! Out now everywhere books are sold! (Also she just made the USA Today bestseller list TODAY!)
Current: I’m in the middle of Aurora Palit’s debut, Sunshine and Spice out September 10th and let me say you NEED this book on your TBR!
Next: Can’t wait to dive into Jamie Harrow’s debut, One on One! I’ve heard incredible things about this one! It’s out September 24th!
Some updates about what I’m up to:
It’s crunch time with book 2, so I’ve been putting in the hours trying to get it ready for my editor’s first eyes on it, and I’m gonna be real, I am STRUGGLING. This is a heavier story than WEDDING DASHERS, which inevitably comes with an (un)healthy dose of (raging) imposter syndrome. Am I telling this story “right”? Am I even the right person to tell this story? What if it’s not “good” enough? What if I’m not good enough? Writing sure keeps us humble, huh?
While I can’t tell you about the book itself yet, I can tell you a little bit about my journey with it so far:
After I finished WEDDING DASHERS, I sat down to write another romcom, but I kept running into creative brick walls. I got 70,000 words into two different failed projects over the course of 7 months before I eventually sat down with my husband and said, “okay, neither of us are getting up until we figure out a good premise.” Five minutes later I had an idea (no thanks to him btw), and ten minutes later I started writing chapter one (this was back when I was a chaotic pantser, okay?)
While the book has changed a lot since that first very, very messy draft that poured out of me like lava a la Maya Rudolph’s character in Bridesmaids, this story is very special to me and something I’m excited (and nervous!) to share with you when the time comes. All I’ll say for now is that there are lots of feelings and very few beds!
And because I don’t have enough going on (read: I have trouble resting without feeling guilty) I’m ALSO knee-deep in a new WIP that has had me in a chokehold since April. I was on a Plot Girl Walk (what did I tell you??? Those work!) when it just popped into my head out of nowhere. I immediately sent my CPs a voice note asking, “wait. Is this something???” They all assured me it was, and I started drafting.
Now, I’m just about to wrap up my first round of edits and it’s starting to look like a real book, something that never ceases to amaze me. You mean to tell me that the idea that was nothing more than that, an idea, a few months ago is now a 95,000 word manuscript? With an actual beginning, middle and end???? Wild.
Along with writing the next thing and the next next thing, I’m also trying to navigate the ever-shifting landscape of self promo as a debut which honestly kind of feels like being back in middle school. Do people like me? Is everyone judging me? What if I don’t get asked to homecoming? Should I be mindful and demure? Or let my freak flag fly? Am I doing too much? Not enough?
The other day I was telling my friend Erin Connor (whose debut UNROMANCE comes out January 14th and you should definitely pre order) that a lot of the publishing journey feels like Meredith Grey asking to “Pick me. Choose me. Love me” over and over and over, and sometimes you get picked to sit with the popular kids at lunch and sometimes you have to eat alone in the bathroom.
I’m so grateful to be here, but it’s a lot and I often feel pressure (or at least self-inflicted guilt) to take it all on the chin, to suck it up and “stop caring so much.” After all this is a tough industry and I’m just going to have to grow a “thicker skin.” But I’m really trying to unsubscribe from that mindset. I love to write. My stories mean a lot to me. Publishing is my lifelong dream. OF COURSE I have big feelings about it all. OF COURSE I care.
In fact, my ability to care and feel things deeply isn’t an inconvenient nuisance to ignore, or a pesky setback to overcome, it's the fuel for my creative engine. The thing that allows me to write with care and nuance and empathy about people who don’t exist. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
And sure, sometimes that feature makes me feel like laying on the floor in a puddle of self doubt, but it’s also the juice that keeps me writing past my bedtime, feverishly consumed with big feelings about two people who only exist in my brain. It’s wacky and wild and I have to work to not let the negative stuff knock me down too hard, but it’s also a massive blessing to care about things, to feel passionate about my work. To give myself fully and completely to something I love. And I for one don’t want to suppress or lose that part of myself, not when it’s the part that allows me to tell stories, to create.
And….I think we all just learned why I don’t write newsletters very often! I have a lot of feelings! Most of which either get dumped in a group chat or a book! Or in some cases, here!
Anyways…
I can’t believe we are 5 months away from the release of WEDDING DASHERS! Where did the time go???? Preorders are superrrrrrrrrr important for debuts, so if you are able to, please consider pre ordering! Another great way to support the book is by adding on Goodreads, asking your local library to order a copy, and requesting on Netgalley!
I’ll be back in a few months with more info regarding events and preorders, so stay tuned!
Thank you everyone for your continued support! Catch you on the next Plot Girl Walk!
Heather xx