Welp, I haven’t updated you in seven months. Sorry about that. In my defense, the last seven months.
I’m still working hard on this every single day. The difference now is that I’m working closely with the Inkshares CEO, Adam Gomolin, to make sure each chapter is as good as it can be. We’ve tossed around the idea of a summer release, but we’ll see. The world is still pretty wild! Just talking about a release is pretty exciting though!

I know some of you have mentioned a concern that all the changes have made this different from my original story and I hear you! I was talking to my husband about how much the book has changed and improved. The structure is much more readable and intentional, the historical aspects are more immersive, the characters are more interesting. So much has changed. In fact, I think you’ll be pretty surprised when you meet this newest iteration of the main character. But it’s still the same story. I told Jared I didn’t know how to explain what still made it the same story and he said something wise. He suggested this book is the same story as the original in the same way every Fitzgerald book is the same story, every Kerouac book is the same story. He nailed it. This is still the same story I always tell-- a story about women and what home (specifically West Virginia) means, about the specifics of time and place and how they affect who women can be. In a way, it’s the same story I’m telling with my nonfiction WVU book too (which is coming along nicely, by the way!). It’s a good story. And I know this can be a good book. Thank you a million times for sticking with me while I learn how to get it right.

Inkshares is running a manuscript contest and I’ve entered my second novel. No need for pre-orders this time. I wouldn’t do that to you, haha. But if you could check it out and follow it, I’d be so grateful. Again, it’s a story about women and West Virginia, but this one has magic and opioids.

I’m thinking of all of you and hoping you’re well. Stay safe and stay healthy. Love and thanks. So much love and thanks. 

Howdy, folks.

It’s hard to believe it’s been only three months since my last update. Feels like a year. I hope everyone is keeping safe and sane as best they can as we weather this viral storm.

Today, I returned the revised manuscript for BoAT to my editor at Inkshares. I do hope that with two rounds of developmental edits now complete, the end is in sight, but we will see.

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary, if you can believe it, since I got the word that Inkshares would publish this tome. Whether you work with a publisher large or small, it can routinely take 18-24 months to get a book out the door.

With Inkshares, I had hoped to shorten that cycle to 12-18 months. But thanks to social-distancing measures, it’s hard to say when we might have a launch date for BoAT. Bricks-and-mortar bookstores, in addition to online sales, are an important part of Inkshares’ marketing strategy. The team doesn’t want to launch any title at a disadvantage. Neither do I.

So, stay tuned.

As some of you know, since my last update, I have had a cancer diagnosis – metastatic melanoma.

I have had two surgeries to remove all the lymph nodes under my left arm. In mid-May, I will begin targeted gene therapy – a year of fiendishly expensive meds that have a good chance of completely and permanently eradicating the cancer.

By some morbid twist of fate, a half dozen friends, neighbours, and former colleagues have also had cancer diagnoses in recent months.

This of course puts a whole different flavor on living in the time of a pandemic. It emphasizes how much the small victories matter. How much a positive attitude matters. And how important it is to occupy yourself in productive ways.

Thank you all again for your patience and support. Stay safe and keep reading!

Cheers

Leo

Whoa. I don’t really know what to say about everything. Just whoa. This world.

I wanted to let you know I got another letter from my editor. She loved the last draft but there’s still some work to do. I’ll be making a lot of my characters’ direct internal dialogue and making it indirect, and further improving the contemporary story’s setting and relationships. The good news is-- I’m working with the previous manuscript! I’m not rewriting from scratch! This will be an actual new draft, not a total reworking, and that feels AMAZING. We are getting SO CLOSE.

I’ve also been working hard on my WV punk book for WVU Press, which has an official signed contract! Yay!

I hope you are all staying home, staying safe, and staying kind. Please reach out to me if you need some human contact. 
I love you,
Becca