I know it's been a while but I'm back with several pieces of exciting news, so let's get to it!
My poetry collection is out! *screams incoherently*
Where Have We Come From, Where Are We Going? is available on Amazon in paperback for $9.99.
Though a small handful of poems were written earlier, I started this collection in 2018, so it took me fours years to go from my head, onto the page, and to you. It's a very personal and political book as the political is often personal. It's the pouring from my heart all the fears, doubts, tears, and hopes that I have felt over the last six years.
While I hope anyone can find something compelling between its pages, it speaks best to young Christians or non-Christians who grew up in the church and have since become disillusioned by the American church for not looking more like the Jesus they were taught about.
"Where Have We Come From, Where Are We Going? is full of journeys – innocence to adulthood, faith’s march through deconstruction to renewal, and Time’s unstoppable trek as it takes us to hope or destruction. It chronicles the poet’s life during the personally, nationally, and globally tumultuous years of 2015 - 2020 which saw a young girl questioning what she thought she knew, the deepening of a nation’s divisions into cracks that can never be hidden again, and a pandemic that changed the path of everyone’s lives. Touching on the topics of faith, nationalism, linguistics, love, and history, Where Have We Come From zeroes in on America. It analyzes through personal narrative the white-outed parts of its history, its relationship to Christianity, and its society's polarization. No one would disagree that this is a dark, uncertain time in our nation’s history. And Time always keeps going, so the question becomes: where are we headed? "
And that's not all the news I have ;)
The second draft of the Labeth Prequel has been finished!
This book has taken so much longer than I had anticipated. It was just supposed to be a quick project before starting TOATO2. But no, this book DEMANDED more time. I intended for it to be 20,000 words and the 2nd draft is a whopping 49,370! I had to stop calling it the Labeth Novella.
Ya'll, Labeth's story is a wild ride--equal parts horror and beauty, despair and hope. I love this character even more, and I'm looking forward to sharing her story with you all.
But first, we must beta-read, and edit, and proofread, before we can publish. I'm setting my eyes towards a mid-to-late 2023 release.
Until then. . .
I can finally start drafting The One and the Other Volume 2!
Granted, if you've been following my Instagram, you know that I've already started it. I wrote the first two chapters late last year, but NOW I can give it my full, undivided attention as I take a break from the Labeth Prequel.
I am so excited! I've been dreaming about writing this book for literal YEARS. I love all my characters so much--Monoria, Attalayla, Celond, and Jeriph--and I can't wait to journey with them as they grow and face new challenges. LOYALTIES WILL BE TESTED. NEW BONDS MADE. OLD BONDS BROKEN.
Anyway, I gotta go back and write ;). Thanks for reading! Till next time!