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In the past when I’ve finished a book, I’ve given myself a week or two to catch up on writing-related things like updating my website, then I dive into the next project. But it never felt like enough. This year has been different.
As most of you know, for the past ten months I’ve been working on a book that is bigger and darker and twistier than anything I’ve ever written. It deals with mental illness and self-sacrifice and took more out of me than I could have imagined. And now it’s done!
Except it’s not.
Erica M. Chapman is a young adult author who writes dark, emotional novels with bursts of humor, and lighter contemporaries with smart-ass protagonists. Her debut novel, Teach Me to Forget (Simon Pulse) is out now. She’s a member of SCBWI and a lifetime Detroit Lions and Michigan football fan who loves alternative music. She tweets, and watches various CW & Freeform shows while typing her next story on her MacBook.
My latest novel has been the most difficult thing I’ve written to date, combined with other struggles in my personal life, and “You got this Travis” has become our mantra. It’s from a Vine video that my friend shared with me and it’s a simple encouragement that also makes me smile.
Keep reading to see the video.
Debbie Manber Kupfer is the author of the young adult fantasy series P.A.W.S., which features a secret institute of shapeshifters hidden deep beneath the Jewel Box in Forest Park, St. Louis. In addition she has stories in several anthologies including Fauxpocalypse, Stardust, Always, Winter Wishes, Sins of The Past and Sins of the Future and is the editor of the Sins of Time anthology series. She has also published a book of puzzles, Paws 4 Logic, with her son Joey. She believes that with enough tea and dark chocolate you can achieve anything!
Writing contemporary romance, I don’t spend a lot of time creating a world like you would with fantasy or science fiction, but I do try to bring the environment to life. The three books in the Rules Series take place in and around Boulder, Colorado, and there’s a mix of real and made-up places throughout the stories.
When you first set out to write a novel, it’s scary and exciting and the words flow faster than you can type. But sooner or later, you’ll hit a wall and the gushing flow will become a slow drip that slowly drives you crazy. Or maybe that’s just me.
Nature and water have always inspired me. There’s something about being outside that wakes me up and makes me feel alive. And if I can be near a large body of water, even better. The sound of the waves crashing calms me like nothing else—even in the midst of a raging storm. I was born …
This novel, my ninth, is darker and more emotional than anything else I’ve written and I realized I needed help tapping into that part of my brain. So during a road trip over Thanksgiving when we listened to A LOT of music, I jotted down songs that fit the mood of this book.
My goal for 2019 is to write my best book yet, but to allow myself to breathe. To stop the crazy spiral before it starts so I can enjoy life.