Is it possible there is a more over-worked, over-wrought metaphor for the publishing process than that of birthing a baby?
Oh, but the truth. The TRUTH of it. The truth of it is why writers return to it again and again.
Nine months ago, Laura and I signed a publishing contract with Civitas Press. And yet it was four years ago this spring when the seeds of this message were planted, and so as you can imagine, I feel like I've been pregnant with these words for a long, long time.
(I'm over at Deeper Story today talking about enduring the stupid wait time.)
And so after the idea finally found fruition nine months ago, we filled pages with our words and the book grew and grew and grew (over 60,000 words! and 230 published pages!) and we felt every searing stretch mark along the way. I can't speak for Laura, but for me, in some very real ways, I still haven't recovered from the writing. It sapped me of years worth of creativity and depleted me of words.
And as those of us who have grown human beings within our bodies know, there comes that time close to delivery when we begin to go inward. And honestly, I've wanted nothing more than that for the past month, and yet there is no margin for going inward when a book comes out. And why should there be? This release represents months of hard work for me, Laura, and our editor. And so I must fight against the pull of inward and widen the space for celebrating!
We are humbled to the point of tears to announce that Spirit-Led Parenting: From Fear to Freedom in Baby's First Year
The gestation of new life is mostly a solitary process. Though others can support you in external ways, the real work is done internally. And yet, after baby's birth is when community can really step up with tangible support in the form of providing meals, doing laundry, holding baby so you can sleep.
In the same way, an incredible community of friends have stepped up to support our book through its babymoon, so you'll be reading more from us and the thoughts of others all around our community in the weeks to come. And we are so, so grateful.
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Many of you have already pre-ordered the book through the Civitas Store, and for that we are so, so thankful. For friends and readers who have not yet ordered, we want to invite you to wait until tomorrow, April 3rd, when we'll have a book-buying party. (Pro Tip: Amazon likes Tuesday orders. Who knew?) It feels incredibly forward and presumptuous to even mention this, but we know so many of you share our heart for spreading this message of hope and freedom for new parents everywhere, and this is one way to make the book and our message more visible for new parents browsing on Amazon.
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So.
We're happy and relieved and glowing and yes, even panting a bit in the wake of this arrival.
Gosh. Y'all. YOU ALL. Without your support, without your loyalty, without your friendship, there would be no book. I want you to know that more than anything else. If I could put a stamp on a thank you note and send one out to each of you, I would. Just know that we are emptied-out grateful for your part in this process.
I don't even know what else to say.
YAY!
It's here. It's here! It's here.
