The Things I Finally Said...

We all have them—the regrets from not speaking up when we should have. And some of these stick with us long after the fact and we still wonder what would have happened if we had. How would things be different today?

The Playlist for One Day This Will All Make Sense

Music was tremendously important to me when I wrote my novel. The music is the story and the story is the music.

Blog Tour Stops

Today two very nice bloggers have been so kind to share the news about my book with their readers.

Book Blitz on A Woman's Wisdom. Thank you Ali!

Author Interview on Bookaholic Confessions. Thank you Holly!

Writing What I Know - The Pros and Cons pt. One

Originally posted on Girls Love To Read.

Over the past couple years I’ve taken quite a few stabs at writing my first novel. It usually ended with me closing the document a few hours in and never opening it again. Not until I had my own story I could adapt to a novel, was I able to finally get past the bullet-point-list phase. Most writers have heard, “Write what you know” at some stage in their career. Some say this advice is limiting, others say it’s the only way. Here’s what I learned writing my debut novel.

My debut novel is finally out!

One Day This Will All Make Sense

So, when I said late last August, that I was taking a break for a few weeks to finish my novel, I clearly had no idea what I was talking about. I completely underestimated the amount of work I had left to do before it was ready to be shared.

After months of saying, "It'll be out next week," the day finally arrived and I can proudly announce that my debut novel is now out. I am so incredibly excited to share this with the world. Or just a few friends and family would be enough too =)

Check out the excerpt below and come back here next week, because I am ready to take this blogging thing on again!

Book Review: "The Invention of Exile: A Novel" by Vanessa Manko

Amazon US   |  Amazon UK
Goodreads

★★★★★
Marvelously Kafkaesque

About the book

"The Invention of Exile: A Novel" tells the story of Austin Voronkov, a Russian inventor and engineer who immigrated to US in 1913 to find his American Dream. He meets his wife Julia, but seven years later, Austin is deported partly as a result of his language limitations to defend himself against accusations of being a threat to the US government. Julia follows him and has to renounce her citizenship. They find themselves in the middle of the civil war in Russia, and their escape ultimately takes them to Mexico. Although Julia is eventually granted to re-enter the US with their children, Austin has to stay back and wait for his visa to be approved. Fourteen years later, he's still in Mexico City, fighting tirelessly and manically every day to reunite with his family.

Book Review: "When the World Was Young" by Elizabeth Gaffney

Buy on Amazon

★★★★☆

Wonderfully moving and beautifully written

About the book

The novel follows Wally Baker who's nine years old when the novel starts. While her father is in Japan, Wally lives with her mother in Brooklyn and for the war effort, they have taken in a boarder— Mr. Niederman. On V J Day, not only does the world change, Wally's own world changes drastically and mysteriously. Surrounded by an wonderful cast who all have to adjust to the changes, we follow Wally into adulthood as she tries to make sense of her own destiny, with little or no help from the people who bear the answers, and with glimpses of their point of view as well.

Taking a short break as...

I finish my debut novel, with the exception of a few book reviews. I will be back and truly committed in about 3 or 4 weeks.

The Fourth Thing You Wish Your Non-writer (and loving) Friends & Family Understood About Writing

That writing from home still means you're working.

The other day I was sitting in deep concentration trying to figure a scene out. My phone rang and because it was my dear father, I picked up. He had an official email he needed to send and he wanted me to proofread it before he sent it.
"Sure. I'll do it this afternoon."
"Can't you just do it right now?"
"I'm working."
"But you're home. Is it really that difficult to take 10 minutes to do this for me?"

Book Review: "Adultery" by Paulo Coelho

Buy on Amazon

★★★☆☆

Thought-provoking but preachy

About the book
"Adultery" follows the narrator Linda. A Swiss women in her thirties, married with three children, who appears to be suffering from a late quarter life crisis. As she questions her everyday life and the world and asks "is this it?" she starts to look for something to shake up her world a little. This leads to her starting an affair with a politician.