The proof’s in the pudding, or rather, the email

I’m so thrilled to share the cover for my new novel, If Not the Whole Truth, publishing with Margin Key, which will land in bookstores and on Amazon on September 10, 2024. Paperback and eBook. The proof has been proofed, the send button on the changes has been pushed.

Don’t you think this cover is epic? I’m so lucky to work with Stephanie Shafer on the design of both the cover and the lovely interior. The paper rips on the printed book cover look so real, you want to run your finger over them.

I can hardly wait for you to meet Connie Borders. An Irvington (Indianapolis) brat, her life gets ripped up again and again, but she never loses her verve.

This book was eight years in the writing and research, and a bit more nipping and tucking as it tried to find its own way in the world.

I had a blast checking out the fashion, food, music, (‘cause Connie dresses for the occasion, slaves away in restaurant kitchens, has a steady soundtrack) and language of both the late 1960s era and the final 2022 chapter. Over eight drafts (the early ones oh so rough!), characters appeared, then disappeared. Some characters were killed off and then came back to life. Others killed with no return. Adventures had and then deleted. A million comma uses considered.

In an early draft, a beta reader pointed out that for an era of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, I had plenty of drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, but not enough sex – so I had to fix that. And by fixing that I discovered not only joy, but some very dark places familiar to many women. And then, there were all the books and old newspaper articles (mainstream and underground) about politics, war, and protests. Rich in content and tone, their stories made my story so much better.

But more importantly, writing the book deepened my grasp of what was really going down in the activist years of the late 1960s era (as if anyone ever really knows what going down) and how it’s tied to what’s going down today.

It reinvigorated my own activism, not on a global scale, but on my community and neighborhood level, because that’s where my scope of influence lies. I hope it will do the same for you, or at least start some interesting conversations.

Because, you know, we think life changes, but does it really? The core of this book illuminates how the basic struggle for power versus equity rolls over again and again. So caught up in the arrogance of each era and generation, we hardly notice that the tune to which we dance to is on repeat. Maybe with a different rhythm, or some reverb, but it’s the same. And if we don’t understand how each moment is tied to the past, tied to our basic flaws as humans, we have no possible hope of moving ahead.

PS Are you a typography wonk like me? Here’s the names of the fonts on the cover: Wavespired by Invasi Studio and Manic by TYPEHEIST. And inside, everything runs along smoothly, unlike poor Connie’s explorations, in classic, beautiful Baskerville.

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