011. one month until release
540 days in the making
it’s insane to know something i made will be in a lot of people’s hands in one month from today.
as the days get closer, i feel myself getting more and more nervous. sure i’ve shared my entire life on the internet for over fifteen years, but there’s context to that. a continuous story to be told. poetry is art and it’s always up to the reader for interpretation. when i was writing this book, i often felt like i was trying to tell years—sometimes decades—of feelings in less than twenty lines. and when you leave that much up for interpretation, it’s hard to know how people will actually perceive it.
luckily, the early reviews have been very good. the book ranked #2 in reader recommended books on netgalley, sat in top 325 poetry books on amazon for a day, and was named the poetry book to look forward to this year by writer’s digest.
i had no expectations for how this would go. six years ago i was just writing my feelings in lines in a journal because life felt like too much to handle. before submitting my book to my now-publisher, i had never submitted work anywhere before. i only ever submitted my work because i told my therapist one day, “i think i want to publish a poetry book.” to which he responded, “hell yeah.” up until that point, no one knew i was writing. but as i reflect on that moment with my therapist now, i hope everyone has a “hell yeah.” person in their life.
i need to end this monthly update by saying one more thing. during a call with my mom this week she said to me, “honey, you’re living your dream life.”
this, indeed, is all well beyond my wildest dream life.
on that note, mark your calendars:
on june 18, i’ll be reading select poems at Tyler Loftis Studio’s Table Read in New York City. more details/rsvp to come!
my launch party will be on june 24 at Flower Girl in New York City. i’ll be reading my favorite poems from my book, sign copies, and build flower bouquets with all who can join. tickets to come!
on june 28, i’ll be reading from my book and signing pages at Rudolph Girls Bookstore in Maryland. be sure to rsvp for that here if you plan on attending.
see you next month,
nicole
I’m so sad that I teach on both NYC launch nights, especially the event with flowers on the 24th! I’m cheering you on, mami 📚🪩
ILYSM and your mom is right. My copy can’t get here fast enough.