I’d like to thank and warmly welcome the new readers and writers who recently signed up through Authors XP. Please indulge me while I introduce myself and my blog.
When we set the publication date of Feb 2021 for my debut novel “Sylvie Denied”, we thought Covid would’ve been out of crisis mode and that book stores, book clubs and libraries would be holding live in-person events. Instead, 2021 has been the second worst year for book publishing — the prize for worst goes to 2020 when Covid upturned us all.
So, as I was approving a book cover, working on final edits and all the many other details, I also started this blog where I express my reactions to the things going on around me. Like many of you, my movement had become more confined than what I’m used to, but that didn’t make my world much smaller, especially when everyone with access to technology found that we could meet virtually. In fact, being on Zoom calls opened up my world in unexpected ways. And between those meetings and social media, I’ve met many new people, have had some wonderful interactions and even made friends with folks I’ve yet to see in the flesh. And now I receive regular emails from new-to-me authors and am impressed by how they keep on producing novels and sharing teaser content about their upcoming books.
As for me, writing “Sylvie Denied” was challenging conceptually, artistically and physically., and although I’ve dipped my toe into writing a next novel, I’m concentrating on writing shorter pieces, some of which I’ll post on my blog.
The reason I don’t want to bury myself immediately in a long form is this: I write to have conversations. And I also love to tell stories, which are the best conversation-starters. In “Sylvie Denied” my characters engage in conversations and some whom Sylvie doesn’t agree with even make valid points now and then. As in real life, can we always tell who to trust? You’ll find many stories throughout my blog posts, including the ongoing saga of the swan love triangle.
The conversations I’ve proposed in “Sylvie Denied” are about family, motherhood, women’s collective reality, materialism, classism, spirituality, race, mental illness and convention. Such ideas in the abstract can seem meaningless without seeing how they’re embodied. And just like flesh-and-blood people, my characters’ lives contain layers of stories. stories. Reviews posted on Amazon by readers also show that issues facing women of previous generations have yet to be resolved by younger women today.
The blog is interactive so I do hope you’ll comment. I look forward to speaking with you!
Have you read SYLVIE DENIED yet? I invite you to grab your copy, and please leave an honest review when you do.