Jun 9, 2023

Greetings, adventurers!

Once again, it’s been awhile. I’ve been working diligently on the edit, but it’s been slow going—I have two young children and I’m working two jobs, trying to spend time with my spouse, keep my living space some semblance of clean, and retain a few shreds of sanity here and there, so finding and making time for this has been a challenge, to say the least.

I do want to add that I am struggling with this edit. I never expected this process to be so oddly vulnerable, and I’m left wondering if this book is even worth releasing. This isn’t due to being unable to take criticism, but rather because I am faced with just how much there is wrong with the manuscript. I was a very different person when I wrote it—the first book was written 15 years ago, after all. I was another different person when I funded it, and now I’m a much different person during the editing process. I am trying to make this book worthy of its wait, but I don’t know that it ever will be. I suppose that’s the risk I run in pursuing anything like this, but I don’t want to disappoint anyone with this.

It’s been a long road and I’m humbled by how patient, supportive, and kind everyone has been during the process. The first delays were out of my hands, but these delays are completely on me, and for that I am sorry. Having such a gap between funding and editing has changed my mindset about the book. That being said, I struggle with finishing projects when they get past the “fun” stage, so I am determined to finish this, no matter how I feel about it. And, let me make this perfectly clear: I do not feel good about it, at all. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so either things get rushed because I’m feeling excited about them, or they get abandoned because I’m no longer excited about them. I’m sure I’m not the only one and some of you can relate, so in some small way, maybe sharing this will help somebody. 

In any event, enough with the Debbie Downer talk. I actually do have a very exciting update that I meant to give you all two months ago but, quite frankly, life completely got away from me and I have said “I need to share that already” to myself almost every weekend since then and have just not had the chance, as things have been crisis after crisis or just packed to the gills. So, as promised 2 months ago (somehow?!), here is your official, actual cover for Mushroom and Anchovy, by artist—and my very good friend—Molly E. McGuire. 

Molly really captured the essence of a certain part in the book and her attention to detail is so keen. There are some details in here that will only be understood after reading the book, and I love that. I hope you do, too! Her work is so beautiful and she was always my first choice for the cover. She’s been very busy the past few years and we weren’t sure we could make it work, but we did and I couldn’t be happier.

I’ll continue to work on the edit and will hopefully get more news for you before too much longer (comparatively). If you ever have any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m an open book—unlike this, which will hopefully be that, one day.

May your travels be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper