On Book Birthdays and Other Firsts

I always love the sheer optimism represented by the turn into a new year. Clean slates. New beginnings. As we enter 2018, I am gratefully reflecting on the opportunities that have come my way in the past year and those that are to come in this one.

When my first novel Just Fall was published in March 2016, calls and cards wishing me a “Happy Book Birthday!” amused me. The term was foreign to me then. As the “book birthday” of my second novel The Burial Society approaches, I am grateful for all i have learned during my journey into authorship including mastering publishing industry terms like “book birthdays.”

My list of publishing factoids has expanded to include:

Books are always published on Tuesdays.

“Table dates” are the dates major bookstore chains arrange the displays in the front of their brick and mortar stores in order to promote sales of certain titles.

There are countless subcategories within the thriller genre: mystery, cozies, crime, suspense, domestic, espionage, animal, cop, detective—the list goes on and on, with overlap between them like a series of ever expanding Venn diagrams. And that’s just the tip of the library stack.

My writing has changed as well as my knowledge base. I’m often asked about the challenges of switching between writing films and writing novels. I’ve found that working in both has only sharpened all the tools in my kit. Teaching offers another perspective, as I am forced to articulate my theories on writing. Each discipline feeds the others.

Happy 2018 to you all. Hug those you love, count your blessings and join me in wishing peace, prosperity, health and happiness to the world at large. We all become stronger through shared compassion and love.

And please join me in celebrating the book birthday of The Burial Society on Jan. 30!