Five and a fifth months ago, I wrote “Dear Jack and Isabella” in my visual journal.
And, promptly forgot about it (mostly thanks to my ever-helpful inner critic who woke up with a loud ping and 128 notifications on the theme of ‘why I shouldn’t do it’).
A month ago, those same words showed up again—this time under the heading of ‘Synopsis’ in a document outlining an idea for a book.
My inner critic had a bit to say about that. Except this time, I was so excited about the idea, I could block its notifications.
And, whad’ya know, there were those words again—the first sentence of the first chapter.
And, then, the next.
And, the next.
Until I’d written a book!
No, not the NaNoWriMo* 50,000 words (although, I did write this in November!)
No, not the Book One of Fifteen fantasy tome either.
A very-do-able, fun-to-write, micro-sized book.
‘MicroBook’ is what Vicky Quinn Fraser over at Moxie Books calls it. She set up MicroBook Magic, a write-a-micro-book-in-4-weeks adventure that spoke to my “always wanted to write a book” so much, I had to join the party.
Now, I have a book!
It’s a memoir.
It’s contemporary fantasy.
And, it’s epistolary (my new word of the month—it means it’s written in the form of a series of letters).
It’s about changing direction, letting go of dreams, picking up new ones, and, ultimately, reconnecting with your magic and living your own story.
To wrap up MicroBook Magic, Vicky hosted an online celebratory showcase (jazz hands included). As much as I wanted to be there, no amount of caffeine could have made me coherent at that hour of the night so I sent a video instead! Here’s the short, short version—with me reading from chapter 2.
I’ll let Vicky do the honours.
Thanks to Vicky for a fantastic month—and her kind words about my book!
… her topic really spoke to me: things we have to leave behind. You know, things we can choose to hang onto, and they’re going to colour the rest of our lives, or we can let go of them and see what comes next. And that’s what I really love about Ailene’s book. That’s what she’s doing. She’s writing this memoir about where are we, where do we want to be, what do we have to let go of. And she’s doing it in a way I haven’t quite seen before.
My manuscript is currently with beta readers and I hope to have the book published early next year!
Here’s to doing an I’ve-always-wanted-to thing (raises glass of bubbles). It feels fantastic—like, every morning you’ve woken up at the start of the summer holidays all rolled into one, fantastic!
And, whatever your I’ve-always-wanted-to thing is, picture me over here cheering you on!
PS. * National Novel Writing Month—a challenge to write a 50,000-word manuscript in the month of November. One day …
PPS. If you’ve always wanted to write a book, Vicky is running MicroBook Magic again in January. Done, dusted, published – before Valentine’s Day. Contact Vicky to find out more. (Not an affiliate link—I just loved the experience and wanted to share!)
