New View, August 23rd: Allowing myself to Think About the New Book

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.


by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Today I sat out on the end of the dock and marveled at how beautiful the world is. There was lots to do, of course, and I was doing my best attempt at it: letters to write asking for blurbs for Bittersweet, books to read/ revisit of those I’ll be asking, a spreadsheet to create of who I’ve asked and the details about them, a story that’s been accepted for publication to revise, a new website bio to write, a newsletter to scheme up, all the work for the Friendstories blog, etc.

Instead, I found my mind drifting to my next book. It was a seductive journey- I’m still in the early blush of love with my new idea. Everything seems possible. I don’t yet know its flaws. I realized, as I sat on the dock, that I really do want to set part of the book here, in Maine, which has so much in common with Vermont (where Bittersweet is set) but has so many differences. The sound of the pine needles slipping down to the forest floor. The chill in the air. The grasshoppers whizzing through the air.

I’ve been so caught up in all that I must do, all that has a time-stamp on it, that I’ve lost track a little bit of what I love to do- make up stories. And so I sat on the edge of the dock and found myself smiling, full of the delicious secrets of my next set of main characters. Their foibles. Their determination. Their relationships. Their losses.

A book! I get to write a new book!

I’m so lucky.