Buckle Your Seatbelts
The first chapter of Mercy comes out January 3rd! Here's what you need to know!
Let me just admit that this is not the most exciting post I’ve ever shared—please don’t give up on me, the VERY NEXT POST I share will be chapter 1 of my first novel, Mercy! And a year of fiction from there on.
Please note: This particular post might be edited/updated several times as a I second-guess myself. :)
What’s this book about, anyway?
Scottsville's City Council wants to build community and a city to be proud of but to Isla Campbell, the city's New Business Liaison, all they are offering is a shiny band-aid on a gushing wound. She is annoyed that money equals quality of life in the eyes of her colleagues, but also embarrassed that they might see her as a member of the class they criticize. Isla is assisting kind, gentle, but impulsive yoga instructor Dave as he sets up a studio, but he increasingly has other priorities. As their personal and professional lives get sucked into a whirlpool of disarray, the question "are there places too dark for mercy to go?" becomes increasingly relevant.
If you want a taste of what’s to come, here are some short stories and deleted scenes from the world of Mercy:
Sweeping the Cutting Room Floor
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my first reader, my husband Daniel, who patiently listened as I read the entire thing aloud and gave me helpful and encouraging feedback the whole way through and talked through many thorny issues with me. He made writing time possible on many occasions. As I’m finishing this, our kids are old enough to take care of themselves as I shut myself in somewhere to write, but this was not the case 8 years ago.
Thank you to my children, who have always been supportive. Their encouragement means so much, especially since writing has often stolen my attention from them. I get the feeling the really believe in me, and I want so much not to let them down.
Thank you to Lilly and Andy, who have hosted writing retreats and shared many workdays. It’s so much fun to share the writing life with my bestie and her husband.
Thank you to Amy, my friend and second reader, who offered detailed feedback and caught mistakes while always building my confidence.
Thank you to Bonnie, my sister and third reader, who said, “It did make me cry so you know that’s an automatic approval.”
Thank you to Raeanne of Lavender Prose, my developmental editor. I stumbled on her accidentally and I just got the feeling from the bubbly letters and black lipstick that she was someone who would “get” me.
Thank you to Maria Scala, my line/copy editor. Years ago, she was one of the editors of a piece I had published on Literary Mama, and the experience really made me understand that, rather than tearing your work to shreds, a good edit shows respect for the writing. I managed to find her again and was so pleased when she agreed to work with me.
Thank you to Katie , the talented artist who has drawn the illustrations that accompany each chapter.
Thank you to all of my readers, past, present, and future, and all of my family and friends.
How to Read
As I was writing Mercy, I made strict rules for myself; I wouldn’t publish until I’d had it vetted by experts in every area it touches on. I would make certain that no one could misunderstand or be hurt by anything in it. I would provide resources for people struggling with any of the issues addressed in it.
I am breaking those rules. While I genuinely don’t wish to cause harm, I can’t prevent all misunderstanding. I lack the experience to recommend resources and a Google search will inevitably lead me to people both who love and despise any given one. It’s hard to find people who will willingly sign on to read 125,000 words just to make sure I didn’t mess up.
As a reader, I have been impressed by authors who did rigorous research for their fiction books (or had assistants to do it), but I have not assumed that was the norm. My book is an imagined place (Scottsville) set in a real place (Maine.) I don’t think the police station in Scottsville or the procedure for condemning a property need to actually exist anywhere in the world. That’s part of what fiction is for and I think this is generally understood; however, I also think that having access to so much information online can make people have an unrealistic expectation of realism. How’s that for irony?
Free or Paid?
Everyone can read Mercy for free during it’s serialized release! Furthermore, I intend to release a hard copy after I finish the serial edition, so you may want to wait for that; it will be cheaper, it will still support my writing, and you’ll know if you actually like it enough to pay for it!.
A paid subscription gets you three things:
Earlier access to upcoming chapters. I intend to release 6 chapters on January 3rd, 2025, 1 free and 5 for paid subscribers. Each Friday, I will unlock the next chapter for free and add a chapter for paid subscribers.
Behind the scenes posts: I’ll aim for once a month on these.
A chance to support independent art.
I 100% value free subscribers as much as paid! I’m just happy if my work is meaningful to people. But there’s always the dream of supporting myself and my family with my writing.
Thanks if you’ve stuck with me this far! See you again on the big day!!!
Trigger warnings:
If you don’t want to know anything about what’s going to happen in the book, then don’t read this. If you want to know, scroll down.
This book at times depicts substance abuse, domestic violence, and one instance of sexual assault. I have researched these subjects at length, but they are complicated and I can only say that I have tried my best to handle them wisely and not exploitively. Please understand that this story is the outworking of me trying to understand some hard things about the world; it goes without saying that I can only do so from my imperfect, limited viewpoint.
I'm so proud of you and can't wait to read your labor of love :)