(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
My new book, The Atropine Tree came out on Tuesday and I am very excited about it because this book is extra special. One of the reasons this one is so special is because you, pen fam, were right there with me all along the way.
Let's think back in time. No, further than that. Even further--books are long and publishing moves slow, okay? Go back to this post in December of 2017, when I had just finished my first NaNoWriMo post for the PenAddict blog. I discuss my use of the Graphilo planning notebook and the Barnes & Noble Italian Leather drafting notebook there--both excellent choices that have stood up to years of revisions and edits. But that project has now molted several times, shed its old skin, and assumed its final form--an actual book that is now released into the world.
If you look at any of my writing posts from the past six or seven years, you'll often see that Graphilo notebook in my stack. It's where I recorded all my editing notes. I first reviewed it in October of 2017, right before NaNoWriMo started. Between those posts, in November, I wrote The Atropine Tree. Well, most of it. It's not 50,000 words, it's almost 90,000 words. I needed more words to fit all the ghosts in.
The first draft was longer than the B&N notebook, so some extra chapters ended up in the planning notebook, which was fine. I filled all 381 pages of that notebook.
Then I typed up the draft, which came to 286 typed pages. A lot more got added in edits. I tend to draft very economically, and my later drafts always end up much longer than the originals. And in this case, I added another 10k words and a whole side-plot AFTER the novel had been accepted for publication.
I signed a publishing contract for this book on March 3, 2023. The process of editing, waiting for cover art, layout, etc. took over a year--which is actually faster than average.
Just last week, I got to hold the finished book in my hands for the first time. That's always a magical moment. I can reflect back on how I spent a good part of 2017 reading about poisons and jotting notes in my planning notebook, then that wild month of quickly drafting, then more writing, then some more, then years of edits and waiting and submitting and waiting, then acceptance, then waiting.
Basically, there's a lot of waiting involved. Even more waiting than writing. But it's all worth waiting for. And I hope you enjoy the new book! Thanks for keeping me company on the journey. You are all excellent writing companions. Which is good, because I have two more books I need to finish writing this year. So let's ink up some pens, shall we?
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