So I Wrote a Book

I cringed when I wrote the title of this blogpost. Most writers want their words to be read (me included), yet my Midwestern-ness gets in the way every time I think about promoting myself. But instead of figuratively wringing my hands or being falsely self-deprecating, I'm going to push through and set aside that deeply ingrained Nordic reserve of mine and emphatically state: 

                                   "I WROTE A BOOK AND I WANT YOU TO READ IT!"

I quit The Cheap Seats back in the fall of 2014 and immediately starting writing a novel. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, not to mention a wildly unrealistic notion how long it would take, but I knew there was a story inside me I needed to write, and ultimately share. So I stuck with it. 

Without fully realizing it, Addie Braver (the title I finally landed on) took over my life. The characters became real to me, as real as anyone I know. More often than not, they were the first people I thought about in the morning and the last people to cross my mind before I went to bed. I worried about Addie and her younger brother Billy, wondered constantly how things would turn out for them. That went on for four years. Even now, whenever I visit my hometown (the story's setting), certain places spark "memories" in me of events that happened only in my mind.

Which brings me to today, and your minds. 

Addie Braver is available for (gulp) purchase in paperback (modestly priced) and ebook form on Amazon. I won't bore you with the tangled mess that is the publishing world, but suffice it to say I received an education. Nonetheless, I loved every step of the process.

Now about the book.

Her whole life, rebellious fifteen year-old Adeline Pearson fought to protect two things: her younger brother Billy and the treasured memory of their dead father, Will Travers. Neither task was ever easy. Always standing in Addie’s way were two people—her long-suffering mother, Anna and their alcoholic step-father, Jake.    

By the summer of 1977, Addie's battles with her step-father had taken their toll on the Pearson family. Desperate to finally be free of him, she hatches a daring plan to get Jake out of their lives for good. Failure will surely make life worse for the determined Addie so she enlists her brother to help, confident that success will snap their mother out of her weary acceptance of Jake's self-destructive ways.

Set in the small town of Lost Elm, Minnesota, Addie Braver is a story of addiction, redemption and loss—of one family's harrowing and heroic journey to brave all three without completely falling apart.

That miniscule summary will appear on the back of the book. Condensing 90,000 words into a tight 150 was nearly impossible and I hated doing it. But every book has one so who am I to say no? Still, I want to give you a sample that might make you pause and say to yourself, "Okay, I could read this book." What follows is the prologue to Addie Braver:

                                                        April 8, 1965

  The little girl was terrified. Everything around her was harsh and unfamiliar. When an airplane—bigger than anything she’d ever seen before—roared to life nearby, she clung fearfully to her father’s camouflage pants. Someone hollered, “Cheeeese,” but she never took her eyes off the man she adored.

  A strange feeling for this little girl—fear. Though only three and a half years old, she wasn’t used to being afraid of anything. She was now—they all were. But not her father. He smiled at her with the glow of unconditional love and a reassurance that they would see each other again.

  “It’s going to be your job to keep this safe, honey,” he said, handing her the Polaroid photograph that had just been taken. “Put it somewhere you won’t forget, okay?”

   She cradled the picture in her hands and nodded gravely as a lump formed in her throat. The shapes in the Polaroid began to appear—her and her father, next to them her mother holding her younger brother. The girl studied her parents’ faces. His displayed a contemplative, confident smile. Hers was a portrait of sorrow and confusion.

  The little family huddled close together until an official-looking man in an olive-green service uniform approached them and announced, “Corpsman, it’s time.”

   “Where are you going, Daddy?!” the little girl wailed. “Why do you have to go?!”

  “We talked about this, Addie. Remember?” he explained, kneeling in front of her. “There are men far away that need my help. But I won’t be gone forever. We’ll be together again—I promise.”

  His vow was too much for the girl’s mother to hear. She wept uncontrollably while her son squirmed in her arms. The young family embraced again until the uniformed man reminded him—more insistently this time—that the plane was about to take off and that he had better be on it.

  “I love you,” he told his sobbing wife. “All of you.” His smile faltered momentarily as he kissed each of them goodbye.

  But the little girl wouldn’t let go of his hand as he turned toward the aircraft. “Please don’t go, Daddy!” she cried over and over again, pleading with him to stay until he finally had to scoop her up in his arms.

  “Can you do one more thing, honey—while I’m gone?” he asked her tenderly. “Take care of your brother for me. Watch over him. It’s a big job, but I know you can do it.” Through fresh tears she agreed and he set her down next to her mother.

  “We’re going to be okay,” he told his wife. “Everything’s going to work out just like I planned.” And with that final promise he jogged up the stairs and disappeared inside the aircraft.

  The little girl squeezed her mother’s hand, never taking her eyes off the airplane as it taxied down the runway, lifted gently off the ground and climbed high into the western sky. “Mommy,” she asked sadly as they walked across the runway tarmac, “What’s Vietnam?”