“Endings are merely the seeds of new beginnings waiting to bloom.” — Uncommon
I’ve written three books now, Look Over Your Shoulder, being my debut novel. I’ve heard it said most writers have one all important book they need to write. But it isn’t always their first book. Sometimes they need to get down and dirty in the mud, figure out this whole writing character and plot and setting jazz, before they feel brave enough to tackle their big book. Not how I roll.
Look Over Your Shoulder is my big story. Good or bad, I’m not sure, but being one to rarely look before I leap, and without having the damnedest clue what I was doing, I jumped right into my big story with my first novel. Not going to lie, it wasn’t an easy journey, because, yeah, I ended up learning about character and plot and setting on the fly. Consequently, finishing this book took FOREVER. Would I have it any other way—that’s a hard no.
And now my baby’s about to go big and to go wide. She’s hitting the streets on October 21, 2025. Woohoo!
My journey to releasing Look Over Your Shoulder hasn’t been a straight line, but now that I’ve held my proof copy in my hands, I feeling a sense of completion. Along with a whole bunch of other feelings.
Finishing the story was definitely bittersweet. Ecstatic to have completed the project, I felt pretty damn proud of myself, but once that high waned, I was left with a massive emotional hangover. Although I was able to take my story on some fun-filled adventures, there were also times where I went deep and dark. Eventually, I got through the hangover period only to find moodiness and irritability stacked up right behind it. I recognized this wasn’t somewhere I wanted to land and very quickly began work on my second novel—Stillwater Lake (scheduled for release in the new year—just saying).
Okay, fine. I softened the blow and cheated officially saying goodbye to the world I’d created in Look Over Your Shoulder when I stole a few minor characters and dragged them into Stillwater Lake. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get through, I guess.
Today, I feel I’ve come full circle. I’m readings my proof and feeling nostalgic. I’m revisiting my characters, the settings and individual scenes, and I’m remembering where I was when I wrote them, who workshopped them with me, and how I felt when I thought I nailed them. This book is a scrapbook of my writerly journey. Looking back has been nice.
What’s the moral of the story? Writers are feelers. That’s why we write. I’ve decided it’s okay to have a bunch of big feelings when you’ve finished your big story, or any project for that matter. I say sit with those feelings as long as you need to, just don’t get stuck there. You may believe in delivering your story to the world, that you’re done. I doubt it. Not only will your story now live on in your readers, but I’m betting there’s another big story inside you just waiting to bust through. Write on writers!
Pre-order Look Over Your Shoulder now and take advantage of this introductory price: https://books2read.com/u/bzGr7z
Print version will be available for sale on October 21, 2025
Sharon Overend 