A Big Announcement…OkI’llJustTellYouRightNow! I WROTE A BOOK

{Written on February 1, 2016, the day my book was due.}

I wrote a book.

I have been wanting to write that sentence, or a variation of that sentence—I am writing a book! I am thinking about writing a book! I sort of just started writing a book!—for the last two and a half years, and now, I finally can.

I’ve been refraining because until about 23 minutes ago I was afraid that articulating these words in a public space would jinx me. That somehow just writing them here, in this place that probably inspired me to write a book in many ways, would make all of the work I had done evaporate, or make all of my motivation to finish it evaporate. Either way, I was not about to take my chances.

Not until I actually had a book deal in my hands and not until I actually submitted the manuscript to the people who gave me that book deal, which is what I did—now—24 minutes ago.

I turned in the book. Which sort of felt like turning in my soul.

Which sort of makes me want to puke, jump for joy, run a marathon, sit very still, get a four-hour massage, never write another word, write every word for the rest of my life, do summersaults and cartwheels and other acrobatics I haven’t attempted since I was eleven years old, ride a bike through the forest, jump off a cliff into some water, swim to the surface, or never swim to the surface because turning in a book is at once wonderful and terrifying.

I want everybody to know about it, and I want nobody to know about it.

I’m not done. I’m not anywhere near done. There’s lots more work to do now that the book is in the hands of my editor. It’s weird to say “my” editor by the way. Because really, he’s so good, that I feel like he is all of the real authors’ editor, and then he is just sort of doing me—the fake wannabe author—a favor. I don’t know. But I’m grateful he’s agreed to look at my words.

Here is what I can tell you about the book so far. It’s about faith. It’s about one year of my life in which I questioned my faith and my own identity a lot. Which goes hand in hand because, you know, when you’re in Christ, he is your new identity. So if you’re questioning the whole Christianity thing, you will, undoubtedly, question yourself also.

It’s about living overseas and how that greatly impacted and affected my faith and who I am today. It’s about the wonderful characters I met over there who, as I wrote about them, I couldn’t believe were real people I actually got to meet. Friends are amazing.

So, think spiritual memoir about a clumsy twenty-two-year-old girl living overseas and freaking about everything all the time.

Am I doing a good job at selling this yet?

My goal is for you to read this book and say things like:

“I’ve always thought that but never really knew how to articulate it.”

“Omg, she is more of an idiot than I am, and that makes me feel so much better about myself.”

“I get it. I totally get it.”

“Really? Me too.”

Especially that last one. “Really? Me too.” I hope you say that a lot. Because I think we could use a little more of that, the stories that connect us rather than the stories that make us feel less-than.

I don’t want you to “learn from my mistakes,” I want you to feel connected to me and others in reading about them. Sometimes we just need to know we’re not alone in this whole stumbling through Christianity thing. I want this book to make you feel less alone. (Pretty sure I ripped that last sentence verbatim from Donald Miller.)

Other details I can tell you right now: The book will release some time in the spring of 2017. Don’t worry. I will remind you of that closer to time, and I will keep you posted every step along the way. A book cover reveal! A subtitle reveal! So much to look forward to!

I’ll probably lay off a little bit on sharing details from now until edits are done, and then I will be keeping you posted, recruiting you, brainwashing you, bringing you over to my side because you are the people who have already read me. You are the people who know me, whether personally or just through this blog. Either way, you are my people. And, amazingly, you’ve stuck around, which makes you the perfect group to talk to about my book, and the perfect group to tell others about my book. If you want to, of course. No pressure. Well, a little pressure, but not too much.

Oh yeah, and the title of book? English Lessons. Sound familiar?

The amazing (crazy?) people who agreed to publish this thing are WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. Writing a book is a team effort, and it’s probably smart to find a team who is smarter, cooler, and wiser than you are and then convince them to let you be a part of it. I feel like that’s what happened with WaterBrook, and I am honored and thrilled that I have successfully tricked them into this. Just kidding. They’re amazing, and they know exactly what they’ve gotten themselves into. I think.

It feels reeeeeeally good to get this out!

I can stop being annoyingly cryptic about “this big deadline I have coming up,” and saying “I can’t blog right now,” but then not exactly telling you why.

I am done with being mysterious about this. I am done with the secret writing. The last two and half years have been a lot of lonely, secret work, and I am so glad that now this book isn’t going to be just mine anymore.

It will be yours too.