I remember the first time I brought my eldest daughter to the pediatrician. She was only a few days old, still scrunched and tiny like a little old man. They called her name from front desk, announcing that the doctor was ready to see her. I was stunned that someone had called her name. She was no longer just a secret my husband and I shared, but something that was now a part of the world. Other people would recognize her and call her by the name we had given her. It felt almost arbitrary. “We just made up that name, are you sure you want to use it? You’re going to take our word for it? Maybe an adult should be in charge of this naming process, I’m not sure I did it right.” That’s a bit how it feels to write a book.
As Dad and I get closer to having a real book to share with the world, it still feels miraculous that each step is happening. Like a baby, we willed this thing into the world, and it took a good amount of time to create it. But, there is still disbelief that now other people are able to see it too. It’s no longer a part of our imagination, but part of the world.
One of the many tools we’re are taking advantage of to shape and form this little baby of ours is writing conferences. We applied to Writer’s Hotel in November of 2018. We didn’t expect to get in, but much to our surprise, we did! This forced us to finish our third major edit of the book manuscript, which we submitted in March of 2019.
The editor’s of The Writer’s Hotel were so glowing about the manuscript, it’s helping to correct some of our feelings of “imposter syndrome” as we look at the other impressive people who we will be attending the conference with us. It began to feel real a few weeks ago when our names appeared in Poets & Writers and we were scheduled to give a reading at The Bowery Poetry Club! We leave in two days for New York City. We’re excited to get a chance to hone our manuscript even more!
If you want to come and cheer on our little book baby, we’ll be reading at the Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan on Sunday, June 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. Hope to see you there!