Writing
“A word after a word after a word is power.”
–Margaret Atwood
“A word after a word after a word is power.” –Margaret Atwood
“Write a book,” they say. “It will be fun,” they say. They aren’t wrong. It is fun. Doing something with it is less fun. Even self-publishing, which I haven’t ruled out, is a viable and noble path chock-full of work and an outlay of cash. But if I want either of these stories in hospital gift shops uplifting brave women whose bodies try to kill them, pursuing traditional publishing is the hellscape that these manuscripts and I find ourselves traversing. God speed, little books.
Scars, Cars, and a Rock Star
Women's Fiction | Book Club | Contemporary RomanceLabels are confining, like knock-off Spanx, and Gettie hates most of hers. Scarred. Crone. Widow. Unemployed. The one she is trying on for size: artist. She rewards her cancer survival with a first-class ticket to LA to land gallery representation and a revenue stream because healthcare coverage is no longer a luxury. Her seat neighbor, Eli, the slightly younger, road-weary rock star, is headed home. The shared need to eradicate airplane germs and the banter it creates leads to an emotional connection. Gettie accidentally acquires another ill-fitting label: cougar.
The upside of canoodling with a hot musician is obvious. The downside is becoming tabloid fodder. Posts on gossip websites and viral TikTok videos are unflattering. Being mistaken for Eli’s mom is uncomfortable. But when the subject of parenthood arises, age matters. The label she and her chemo-ravaged body can't make stick: mother. Like with Spanx, Gettie and Eli's perfect fit and her California dream may only be an illusion.
Readers who enjoyed the emotional highs of music-lovers falling in love while songwriting, like in Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts, and the emotional lows of media scrutiny negatively influencing one’s self-worth, like in Kate Stayman-London’s One to Watch, will connect with Gettie’s struggle to feel deserving of love in an aging body so heavily flawed.
Comparable Titles
Borrowed Bandana
Women's Fiction | Book Club | Contemporary RomanceEli is content not being a dad, and Gettie's post-cancer body shouldn’t be able to conceive. Yet, surprise! His fear turns to joy after hearing his miracle baby's heartbeat. But neonatal death rocks the couple’s relationship. Neither sees adoption or surrogacy as their path, yet Eli secretly desires another chance at fatherhood, knowing it was Gettie’s last.
Eli's tour supporting his GRAMMY-winning solo album coincides with Gettie's mural commission for a high-profile celebrity client in the Midwest. Their planned commitments become a full-blown separation when Gettie sacrifices their romance to give Eli the time and space to consider a new relationship—one that can give him a child.
But when Gettie's budding friendship with her client unfolds on social media, Eli battles jealousy and questions where his heart lies. And hers. A new motorcycle helps quiet his inner monologue, yet he quickly lands himself in trouble. His newsworthy shenanigans have Gettie doubting a reconciliation while also jeopardizing his band's pending partnership with the LA Contemporary Ballet, a collaboration the band has long desired. Eli finds himself at the intersection of his found family's future, his solo career, fatherhood, and true love. He can't have it all.
Readers who enjoyed the drama of a hit song tearing its songwriters apart, like in Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts, and the fertility themes affecting a past and present love, like in Jill Santopolo’s Everything After, will connect with Eli and Gettie’s struggles with hidden desires, physical limitations, and the fallout from changing their minds.
Comparable titles
