I'm a writer now too

Somehow, improbably, I wrote two (very different) books in the last year, in addition to a full schedule of narrating, and a wholly unexpected, objectively major, health crisis.

Starting with National Novel Writing Month at the end of 2021, I wrote a romance novel on a lark. I was rounding 200 books narrated at the time, thought I had a decent feel for the genre because of how much I’d read, and wanted to see if I could do something a little unique. When it turned out to not suck, I pursued self-publication, and entered a fog of learning about cover design, editors, ebook publication, distribution platforms, paid promo, ARC’s, and more. It was very educational, and helped me much better understand the process of getting a book on sale from the author’s side.

Not to mention, the writing. That $#*% is HARD! And after that, there’s a world of business to learn! (Of which, my role as a narrator is just one part of an author’s self-publishing journey!)

I started another in July. I thought I was going to write a non-fiction book, and it did not turn out that way! This story needed to exist in a world other than this one to say what it wanted to say. I started with the sketchiest of outlines, wrote the first 2/3 of my words in July, and then, waylaid by health issues, finished by the end of October 2022, making for my first two books written in twelve months.

I know I will write again. A sequel is all but inevitable. I have clear ideas about what else exists in this world I created when zoomed out beyond the one culture. I have hints and whispers of plot, and the first two paragraphs. But right now, after all that bloodletting, I’m in no hurry to get back to the page!

This one has me in it. Bits of my soul live in most of the characters and I relate to their journeys. I did not know what genre I was writing in, I largely ignored story arc, and I had no audience in mind. My goal and daily writing struggle was to say what I meant… but it’s not always easy to wrap words around a thing! I only needed to hear from one person that they had received the message I was trying to send, and it was incredibly affirming to hear about laughter, and confusion, and suspicion, etc, in all the right places. (I did it!!!) . Further, I heard from several early readers that they cried, were moved, that they recognized me, or themselves, and that response has meant everything.

The Truthseer and the Goose is the story of a goose, a disgruntled beekeeper, and a teen finding their gender identity, in a world other than this one. It asks, “What if we cared about different things?” Full of beelore (basically a beekeeping manual), it turned out to be gentle, pastoral, slice-of-life’y, pleasant fantasy, possibly passing for YA (except for all those big words I didn’t edit out because they gave me joy!).