13 Days ’til Snowed Drops

I just got my contributor copies from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Aren’t they gorgeous?!?! And the initial reviews on Goodreads are awesome.

This book has been one of my proudest achievements. I’ve never felt as much joy writing anything as I have this book and its sequel, Inversion. I suspect writing the last book in the trilogy will kill me because I won’t want to leave these characters, but that’s what we do, right? Stories start and end. But Snowed is the beginning, and has been the beginning of so much more in my life.

Nothing about this book went the way I thought it would. The first draft took a hard left turn at the end of Chapter 5, and I had to rewrite the entire outline. Most of the book was written with voice recognition technology while I was disabled. Strangely enough, I found my voice both figuratively and literally in writing for teens. I had no idea how amazing it would be. And now it’s the genre in which I thrive.

The whole submission process was terrifying, devastating, encouraging, and enlightening all at once. I also had no idea I’d come back to Raw Dog Screaming Press. I bet it was equally surprising for them. This is not only their first YA publication, but they put out the book the same year that the contract was signed. For those new to the publishing industry, that never happens. Jennifer and John are incredible people for making it a reality.

One thing I’m sure of is that these characters are going to crash into people’s hearts the way they did mine. Especially Charity. She taught me so much about writing the other, being a teen today, and believing in myself. Maybe that’s why I love this book so much. Don’t get me wrong. Writing Mr. Wicker was exhilarating, a poetic exorcism of my darkest days. I’m no longer haunted by Alicia’s feelings of invisibility, the overwhelming desire to retreat into the darkness, despair at the thought of finding solace in the world. As Mr. Wicker says, In time the ink shall sing. And so it did, freeing me from the past and bringing me so many blessings.

I’m so grateful that Snowed found me after Mr. Wicker. I’ve made new friends, found my fantastic agent Alex Slater, and my existing friendships have deepened in beautiful ways. I can’t wait to connect with my readers, both teens and adults. I feel like something incredibly special is about to happen — for me, that is, but I hope for you all, as well.

I’m about to ruin Christmas. And I can’t wait.