The Secret Writing Project

My son William turned four a couple weeks ago, “baby” Ava turned two yesterday, and today came my third… okay, labor was a little less painful with this one, but it did take five years! I am so excited to share that the first book of Sirens, Rising Tide, has a FOR SALE sign hung around its neck as of today. My “baby” is out in the world.

Now comes the hard part for me, the idea that people are actually reading it, judging it… reviews will come in. From people I know. And from people I do not know. Some people will hate it—I’m already steeling myself for those 1 and 2 untwinkling star reviews. But I hope some people will love it too and dazzle it with 4 and 5 stars. I hope to be blinded. There is something about creating art that, although the artist sometimes doesn’t want to admit it, craves to be shared, validated and admired. I admit, I want people to love my book. But, love it, hate it, or “eh, it was okay”… all of these reactions mean that people read it. I was able to share my art. And that means the world. I want to express my deepest gratitude (yes, this is overly dramatic, but anyone that knows me…), my very deepest gratitude, for allowing me to share my art with you. For you to spend time turning (or swiping) my pages is really exhilarating to me and I am so thankful.

People may find it interesting to know a bit about the evolution of Sirens (the book, not the people – you have to read it to learn that!). I began writing this book with my close friend Catie. She had written Eliza’s Shadow in 2012 and I was so impressed. It made me think… maybe I could write a book too. When I shared the idea of the then unnamed story with her, she kindly offered to help me write the book.

We began a semi-secret project, “The Manphibian project”. It was a working title that made us laugh every time we said the phrase. I would write one chapter, she would write the next. This lasted a few chapters until she ultimately set me free to do it on my own. I think she knew I was finally ready. That was five years ago. Much of our early writing went to the cutting board to be chopped, diced, remixed or tossed. But a few remnants of her writing remain… tiny Catie Wittmack cameos. I wrote the entire book during my kids’ naps until I had a single novel of almost 200 thousand words. Now, that is a LONG book, in case you don’t have perspective on word count. When I hired my freelance editor, Max, at the Polished Pen, she advised me to cut the book in half. There was a natural divide between part 1 and part 2. At first the idea horrified me. Like, what did you say King Solomon?? I was very worried that the two books would not stand on their own. I quickly realized how much freedom it gave me to round out the natural plot lines in both parts, and I embraced it. I am quite proud of how they came out. (Twins? Ok, stop me with the baby analogy.)

Anyway, the e-version of book one, Rising Tide is OUT, READABLE, FOR SALE! I hope that it leaves readers with bated breath, waiting for the next one, Lost World. Max is currently helping me polish it up and I will be submitting it to Kindle Scout again very soon so that no one has to wait long (ie., so no one forgets!) after reading the first one. My journey with Kindle Scout for book one was nothing short of wonderful, and I wouldn’t be here obsessively checking the stats of my PUBLISHED book without them. Thanks to them and to everyone who nominated it, and to everyone who will now read it and LOVE IT!!

I plan to post a full playlist sometime soon of music that inspired me over the last few years while I was writing Sirens. Here is one in particular that comes to mind for Rising Tide. Something about the feeling of it… anyway. Enjoy.