Hello dearest newsletter subscribers!
Luck and Last Resorts will be out in the world in under TWO! WEEKS (August 9th)! I have SO much to share with you, including info on my newsletter subscriber only giveaway!
What to expect in this newsletter:
The mistake that made it into the final version of Luck & Last Resorts & hearing the audiobook for the first time
Unboxing my author copies & pre-pub feels
Preorder campaign details
Giveaways!
I messed up.
Yup. I made a mistake. And that mistake made it all the way into the final draft of Luck & Last Resorts. Oops.
Two weeks ago I finally got my hands on the audiobook for Luck & Last Resorts. I grew up with a love of audiobooks. As a kid, I have fond memories of my family renting audiobooks from Cracker Barrel to listen to on long drives.
The audiobook is the first time I get to experience a book as a “reader.” I’ve read Luck and Last Resorts AT LEAST 25 times. I’ve listened to each scene using my text-to-speech app even more. I can’t see imagery or hold accents in my head, so listening to the audiobook is the closest I can get to “seeing” the story. Hearing it for the first time is my favorite part of the entire publication process.
The audiobook for Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships was perfect, so I had really high expectations for Luck and Last Resorts. Somehow, the audiobook for Luck and Last Resorts is even more perfect than perfect. All my expectations were exceeded.
My narrator, Karissa Vacker, nailed every character, every scene, and every line. Her performance brought to life all of the emotions I tried to put on the page with such clarity, that sometimes I had to take a break because the tension was so intense. Nina and Ollie have always felt like real people to me, but it was even more emotional than I expected to hear it.
And Jack! Ah! I was so looking forward to hearing Jack (one of the protagonists of my next book) for the first time. He’s only in one scene, but Karissa brought him to life exactly the way I envision him. (And now I can continue writing with his voice in my head because it is easier to “hear” the characters as I’m writing once I’ve heard Karissa narrate them.
I can’t imagine performing this book was easy. There were a ton of characters. SO. MANY. ACCENTS. And Nina is…complicated. She doesn’t always say what she means. She doesn’t always know how she feels. And I think Karissa made Nina so real and human. Listening to it reminded me of exactly what I set out to achieve in writing this book, and I feel much more confident that this book is exactly what I hoped it would be.
Also, I can’t help but laugh whenever I imagine all the random things Karissa had to shout to record this. This book is intense and emotional, but Karissa also made it really really fun.
So many of you have messaged me to tell me how much you loved Karissa’s performance of Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships. You are going to love this one even more, I’m sure of it. When she’s not absolutely crushing the audiobook game, she hosts a podcast called Sleep Wave to help folks fall asleep. It is VERY soothing and I highly recommend it.
Okay, gush over, back to the mistake.
I changed the names of the secondary characters A LOT while writing this book. There is a very minor character names Simon who is a deckhand. Earlier in the drafting process, Simon’s name was Matt. I was listening to chapter thirteen of the audiobook when I heard Karissa mention a “Matt.”
I paused the audiobook, opened my digital copy of Luck and Last Resorts and sure enough, a character named Matt appears suddenly in chapter thirteen. He is mentioned absolutely nowhere else. I simply missed one of the places where I needed to change the name to Simon.
Maybe if this were my debut, I would’ve been upset. But honestly? I think it is kind of funny and even love this little error! NO ONE caught this mistake. NO ONE! Do you know how many people read a book before it comes out? It’s a lot.
I decided to have a bit of fun with this mistake. A friend suggested I create a short story about Matt, so I asked my Instagram followers for ideas and the responses were hilarious! I’m not sure I have the time or energy to write a full short story, but here is the "plot” I came up with for our mysterious Matt based on the ideas my Instagram followers submitted.
There you have it! My attempt to “fix” my mistake.
I got my author copies!!!!! And they are beautiful!
You can check out my unboxing video here!
I am very much in my feeling about this book.
This book is for the disasters. The messy people. For everyone who has sabotaged something good but didn’t know why or how to stop. For those who are afraid of commitment and letting go of control. For people who want to change but don’t know how. It’s for everyone who has been hurt by the people they trusted and allowed that hurt to bleed out into every part of their life. It’s for anyone who wonders if they are lovable. Who thinks it might be better not to have something good than to risk losing it.
Nina and Ollie’s story isn’t easy. They make ten years of mistakes. They hurt each other. They don’t listen. They keep letting the same things happen over and over again. They are contradictory. They say things they don’t mean.
But they also love each other deeply. They see the goodness in each other beneath all the junk. They support each other quietly, in the small ways that matter. They are fiercely loyal and loving, even when they don’t express it the right way.
I didn’t pull any punches in this one. Nina and Ollie are absolute disasters. They have a lot to learn in these pages.
I love them with my whole heart. I hope you will too.
Preorder campaign!
I’ve spent most of the last week making stickers for my preorder campaign! You can grab signed and personalized copies of Luck and Last Resorts from Quail Ridge Books (free shipping!) and get a few Luck and Last Resorts Stickers (while supplies last).
Giveaways!
There are a few giveaways going on for Luck and Last Resorts. Here are the deets.
Newsletter subscriber only giveaway
If you’re a subscriber, you’re already entered! Sweet! I’ll randomly select one subscriber to whom I’ll send a signed copy of Luck and Last Resorts. I’ll contact the winner by email on Monday, August 1st, so keep your eyes peeled for an email from me!
Beta Reader Dani Giveaway on IG
No, sadly I am not giving away Beta Reader Dani, though she is amazing! BRD has very kindly agreed to annotate a copy of Luck and Last Resorts with her thoughts/reactions for one lucky winner! BRD reads every draft of everything I write and is freaking hilarious. Trust me, you want to enter this one. Find details here.
Goodreads giveaway
Only a week left to enter this Goodreads giveaway for a copy of Luck and Last Resorts! There are ten copies up for grabs!
