Post date: Apr 25, 2013 12:57:15 AM
I feel decidedly post-partum this week. I always get a little depressed after big events and book launches. I miss the creative process, and the transition from one phase to another is exhausting. I loved writing The Souls of Her Feet, but selling it feels weird and forced. I'm crying because all my friends haven't read it yet...and it's only been out for three days!
Thank goodness I have a party planned for this weekend to celebrate! Writing is a very lonely process, even though, when successful, our minds will touch the minds of others in such deeply intimate ways—and getting friends together to celebrate completion will be a great reward.
Here's the good news: my mom loved it. She went on and on and said things like, "How did I raise someone with such an imagination? I don't have that." It made me feel wonderful to hear that she couldn't put the book down—and I hope others have the same experience. But part of me thinks, "Only a mother could love it. Or else someone would have written a review."
But let me dry my dramatic tears and talk for a second about mothers in fairytales: there aren't a lot of them. As a matter of fact, most of them seem to be dead. Ashley's mother died of a tragic cleaning accident. (Hey, it's not funny!) She's probably the most important character in Souls, even though we never meet her. Ashley's journey is about getting close to the person she misses most of all.
There are a lot of stepmothers, and they're not the nicest people in fairytales. Souls provides a lot of extra insight into step-parents, for those young readers I haven't met yet who find themselves living with strangers. I'm waiting for reviews to come in from some cool my stepmoms I know. And I'm even hoping my own stepmother will enjoy the story. (Note: it's not about her.)
But mothers in general, whether bio or step or even adoptive like a certain other interesting character in the book, will have to let me know what they think of the story. Should it be rated PG because of the bitch thing, and the Brazillian thing, and the drag queen thing and the seatbelts thing? Would you give it to your daughter? These are things the world needs to know! Please read the book. See how my mom liked it? You might, too.
The first three to comment get a free book. Cheers!