Blow out the candles, it’s a birthday for Comfort Songs!

We’ve been celebrating the book birthday of Comfort Songs, my 4th novel. It’s a surreal thing to write a book, see it published, and hold it before it’s released into the world of readers. Thanks to the wonder of technology, it’s getting easier to experience, too. I took the leap into publishing 4 years ago, and nothing I do gives as much pleasure as novel writing. Sharing it with readers around the world is dream come true part. Meeting people who want to talk about the characters, the setting, the plot, the history, well . . . it’s my favorite thing.

I’m not to the stage of my career where all I do is plot, write, edit, and market my books, but I’m getting closer to that stage with every year. I still have commitments, volunteerism, and board work that occupy a lot of my energy, creativity, and calendar, but today is all about celebrating Comfort Songs.

This story was born in my imagination years ago. I can still remember where I was when the seeds sprouted and I wondered about the backstory to one or two of my favorite singers. It was that curiosity, that sadness I felt when I watched their celebrity dip and wane, that led me to the characters of July Sands and Roger Worthington. I didn’t plant the particular story of Comfort Songs (the working title had been, Lavender Hill) and watch it grow until I discovered lavender farms around Blanco, Texas. There’s something about the fragrance of wild lavender that got under my skin and fostered my own fantasy about owning a lavender farm. Since my attempts at growing lavender in my back yard were tepid at best, I started writing about it instead.

My husband and I opened the first box of books and lovingly opened each one to make sure they were printed correctly and then we stacked them to count them out. I worried I’d not ordered enough to satisfy the local requests, and slipped back to my computer later to put in another order. Comfort Songs is debuting at a few local events and even part of a library event this month, and I’m always thrilled when folks stop me and ask to buy a signed copy.

I hope you’ll help me toast the new book, and honor the crazy imagination, strange work ethic, and deliberate practice that goes into writing, editing, and publishing a novel. It’s a day for cake!

 

 

 

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