Hi {{ subscriber.firstName | default('Friends') }},
Today's the day! What You Do To Me is available now, and if you have Kindle Unlimited, it's
FREE!
This book. What proved to be my most challenging in creating is now the most challenging in its release.
What began as a kernel of an idea in summer 2021 (thanks to
M.J. Rose pushing high-concept) and pitched to my editor Danielle Marshall over dinner, had been rejected by numerous well-known agents (another complicated story) and almost died before the first word landed on the page.
The incomparable Jane Dystel came on board, believing in me and this concept (not without making me jump through multiple hoops) and the story had legs. A Rolling Stone reporter on the hunt for the muse behind the title song (based on the hit HEY THERE DELILAH).
But then there was the red tape. Lyric approval, title approval (because it's a lyric), driving my friend Doug Cohn crazy while stalking my now friend Tom Higgenson of the Plain White T's for all the above plus the book's Foreword. Numerous re-writes because we had to "get it right" when it came to the religion piece (
Amy Gelb), multiple timelines (70s and 90s), and getting those right too. Last night I spoke at
Great Thoughts' Great Readers and my admiration for Historical Fiction writers couldn't be greater.
When I spoke in my class at the Alvin Sherman Library at NSU two weeks ago, I told the attendees: YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING RIGHT, CHECK EVERY BOX, AND YET VARIABLES BEYOND YOUR CONTROL CAN IMPACT YOUR SUCCESS. Who knew I'd be releasing during a war?
I've given great thought to today, for three years to be exact. And as my baby launches into the world and my heart breaks in many ways for the state of that world, I know two things. One, to quote author
Lynda Loigman, "The heart is big enough to hold both grief and love." And two, we must continue to live. Today I am going to focus on both, and if there's anything I wish for my story is that it takes you away from some of the pain in the world and reminds you that books are truly magic.
Music too. WYDTM has not one but two playlists!
I hope you enjoy and share with your friends and family. Now more than ever, we need to escape inside a good book.
