I can’t believe that I’m 1 day away from my debut novel, THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, being on shelves in libraries and bookstores around the world!
And that means that for #18DaystoMGDebut, I’m revealing the writing advice that helped me the most, which, funnily enough, is to BELIEVE.
THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST was the third novel I wrote, and it taught me a lot. But it also scared me—a LOT. I could picture the journey in my head, the way the language flowed, the emotions of the story, but getting them on paper like I could see them in my head was another story.
There were many times that I thought I would never be able to make the book work the way I truly wanted it to. There were many times I thought about giving up.
But my friend, author Bethany Hegedus, told me I could do it. She told me to believe.
It’s not always easy for me to believe in myself when times are tough, but to help, I made this picture and keep it close while I’m writing.
I might not get a story right the first time, or the second, or the third, or even the fiftieth time, but if I believe in my words, my story and myself, I will keep going… and if I keep going, I will eventually find the way.
I believed in myself while I revised THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, and after many, many revisions and much polishing, the book is coming out TOMORROW!!
Have you pre-ordered THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST yet? All pre-orders are eligible for a Thank You Gift, and can be entered to win a special book-themed gift pack.
Personalized copies of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST are available through my fantastic local independent bookstore, BookPeople. The novel is also available for pre-order on IndieBound, Powell’s, Book Depository, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, Walmart, as well as numerous other independent bookstores.
