One week.
In one week, Tidepool is out in the world. My debut novel. The fulfillment of a dream I’ve had for decades. Something I always wanted to do, but something I believed was out of reach for too long.
I have the Summer Olympics on as I write this, and their COVID-related delay makes them an interesting bookend to Tidepool’s development. In July 2016, as the Rio Olympics took place, I’d been let go from my job and used my free time to develop a novel idea I was planning to write for NaNoWriMo that November.
In 2021, the Tokyo Olympics are on after a year’s delay. I’ve been let go from my job again. But that novel I was planning in 2016 is a week away from publication. Holy shit.
It’s been weird but (mostly) wonderful to see reactions from early readers who are now visiting the world that’s been only inside my head until this year. However, I realized that for my own mental health, I needed to get the heck off Goodreads and stay off. A couple of lukewarm (but by no means awful) reviews sent me into a tailspin, and I realized the first really bad, mean, snarky review I get is going to render me nonfunctional for a week. I’ve done my job. I can’t control how people will receive the book, not everyone will enjoy it, and obsessing over reviews will only mess me up.
I’ve been interviewed on a couple of blogs in the last few weeks. Gwendolyn Kiste, a wonderful writer and a sweet person, featured me on her blog. My fellow 2021 debut novelist Paulette Kennedy also hosted an interview with me. I have another interview coming on August 3 plus a feature on John Scalzi’s The Big Idea. I’ve been reading Scalzi’s blog since the early 2000s when we were all “online journalers” and he was a nonfiction author a few years away from the start of his wildly successful fiction career. So I’m especially thrilled to have landed a slot to talk about Tidepool there.
Super exciting, congratulations! I’m truly looking forward to reading it! Fab cover, too.
Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy it.
I just finished it. OMGOSH, I loved it! Anyone who gives you a snarky or low-star review simply isn’t the right audience for the book. Because it’s good. (I left a few positive reviews here and there.)
Pretty cool that Tidepool started as a Nano project. I wonder if you have another Nano project up your sleeve for 2021.
Thanks so much, Priscilla! So glad you enjoyed it.
My next NaNo project is a rewrite of one I did a couple of years ago. I read a few chapters at a writing workshop and got overall positive feedback, so we’ll see!