Oh no, the author is being perceived (and CHARACTER ART!)

On the vulnerability of putting your writing out there to the entire world.

We're four (4! 4!!) months out from the publication of my debut novel, something I've been holding onto tightly, with a white-knuckled grip, for 2.5 years. For a while, only I knew my characters and their stories. Then, I let my alpha reader (husband) in on the process, and he not only has listened to me read the book aloud 6 times now, but he's been essential to the finalization of the plot and character development.

Reading to him was a huge leap for me. We've been together almost 20 years (high school sweethearts)—so he knows me quite well. But the pressure was on. I'll never forget what it felt like to muster up the courage to read him the first line (at the time, it was "The Great Tree is dying") and then continue through the first chapter. I literally just sat there, my mouth opening and closing, while he waited patiently for me to start. But he was so helpful and encouraging, and here we are. He’s my number one fan.

Then, a handful of people beta read for me and offered essential suggestions/support/etc. So at this point, less than 10 people have read THE GREAT TREE OF IRIS and know my characters.

That's what I keep coming back to: the characters. They're all so different, but they all have a bit of me in them, which inherently makes sharing them feel very vulnerable. So, pretty soon, you'll get to know them too, which means you'll also get to know me better.

📚Lia, the main character, is most like me (on purpose, because I rarely if ever see myself in books), or at least she is a past version of me with several important differences. To sum up, she's the overworked eldest daughter, a scholar, who puts everyone's needs above her own and doesn't recognize love for what it is.

🧳Sol (Lia’s younger sibling) holds my yearning for adventure as a young adult.

🔍Rhael is ever-curious.

☀️Rory (the main love interest) is my sunny purple girl with the confidence I aspire to have.

🪡Icarion pours love into everything he makes (he's a tattoo artist, which in Erienva, my fantasy work, is called an inkdelver).

🪄Aishagi the Wind Wizard is sassy af and commands a room. Part of me that has only increased as I’ve aged.

🍩Hippa the dragon loves to bake and uses it as a coping mechanism.

All of these characters hold different forms of grief, for people or for their past lives, or the lives they never had. Thanks to therapy, I found out I hold a lot of grief, too. So really, it hasn’t been hard to write their stories. But there’s also a lot of joy, too.

So, when you read THE GREAT TREE OF IRIS, you're reading me. Even though OF COURSE it is fiction. Keep that in mind. 😉 And in the meantime I’ll just continue to sit here eating bonbons and twiddling my thumbs until this book is finished (JK I’m trying to pace my to-do list).

-WE HAVE OUR FIRST FINISHED CHARACTER ART (besides the phoenix and the map)! I’m so pleased to introduce you to Aishagi and Hippa, the wizard and the friendly dragon who have an epic friendship spanning hundreds of years. They’ve been cruelly separated for nearly a century. Will they find each other again? You’ll soon be able to read their story in THE GREAT TREE OF IRIS. 😃

(And yes, Hippa has rainbow eyes).

Thank you to @indigowildcard and her incredible artistry for bringing my babies to life! You’ve already gotten a taste from the first part of the newsletter for who these characters are, but I’ll talk more about them another time. There are a couple of key friendship stories in TGTOI, and this one is just as important as the romantic stories in the book, IMHO. I can’t believe I can frame this and put it on my wall now. Eeee.

-COVER REVEAL… coming soon! It has been a huge process and I can’t wait to share the results. And preorder links! I know you’ve been asking and I so appreciate it. Soon!

-There’s so much coming up! I might do 2x newsletters a month leading up to the 10/21 release of the book. FYI - because I share all the most exciting things here first! Thank you for being here and for your support.

Watching: Younger, which I was pleased to see had a whole bunch of seasons. It keeps me entertained. While it can sometimes be a bit cheesy and predictable, I love that it’s set in the publishing world. Can we talk about why Sutton Foster (who I only know from theater) has only sung TWICE in the 5 seasons I’ve watched?? Also, Peter Hermann—hubba hubba.

Listening: My best decision as of late, to help with dealing with the horrors (gestures around vaguely at the United States and the world), was to listen to an entire soundtrack (or two) during my day job. One day, it was Hamilton. The next, Hadestown. In the Heights, then Hazbin Hotel, then Wicked (movie soundtrack) (okay, for that last one, I ended up sobbing while typing work emails, 3/10 don’t recommend).

Crafting: I’ve been making more time for sewing lately because, you know, writing is a job now. So I have to hold on tightly to my other hobbies. I’m sewing up a secret quilt right now, so I can’t really share anything😂.

Reading: I have read some BANGERS lately. Wow. I’m still thinking about Babel by R.F. Kuang (I know, I’m late to the party) and that wild ending. I don’t read a lot of dark fantasy, but I guess I should have known it would be dark.

I’m also just finishing up the book currently sitting at #2 (previously #1) on the adult fiction list, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab. Toxic lesbian vampires across three different timespans. I’m totally entranced by the writing and the characters and the story. This is what I want reading to feel like all the time. Also, I’m super excited that sapphic stories (which you may also know as FF, or WLW, or women loving women - but sapphic is a more inclusive term) are getting more mainstream visibility.

Oh, and My Friends by Fredrik Backman, my recent contemporary read, got me so hard in the feels it’s been hard to resurface. This has been such a good year for reading, and I have a lot more to look forward to.

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