Making Friends with Toxic Moms

My sophomore novel will be on major sale on Wednesday!

Here’s the TL;DR: You can get Are We There Yet?, the novel I wrote in 2019-20 and released in 2021, for 1.99, but only on Wednesday, 4/30. You can get it here, but if you click today, it’ll say 4.99 for Kindle. Tomorrow, it’ll magically be 1.99! You should get it!

Here’s a longer version of the story: My life was a lot different when I wrote Are We There Yet? than it is now. I started writing it when I was a third-grade teacher at the school where I thought I’d finish my career. I had recently moved to elementary after eighteen years in secondary English. I wanted to focus on empathy and community in a self-contained classroom. We also had crayfish and made art from sticks.

Sure, I had also written a novel at that time and hoped to sell it, but you can’t plan your life around the idea that you might get a two-book deal from a big-five publisher. As it happened, I sailed under a lucky star. And, I couldn’t be the kind of elementary teacher I wanted to be and also write a second novel in a year. I left.

I planned to write my second book about adoption (I was adopted at birth), but the kids of Alice, the adopted character (and also her friends’ kids and also said friends) kind of took over the story. I ended up with a book about the kinds of friends we make when our kids are little and the types of expectations and reputations that muddy these relationships as the kids get older.

Are We There Yet? is about the ways we are and decidedly are not responsible for other people’s actions, even if those people are our children. It’s also funny and has the best adult tantrum I’ve ever written. There’s forest bathing and social media and synchronized skating and toxic school PTA meetings. It’s good!

You should get it for Kindle! It’ll be 1.99 tomorrow, which is hardly anything when you think about it. These days, that’s like a quarter of a latte. In order to afford lattes once again (and because I like it), I went back to teaching when this book came out. The next two I wrote while also in the classroom, but back in secondary English, so I didn’t also have to learn how to teach math.

And with that, we’re back to Making Friends next week! And all the weeks for 6 more after that when the book finally releases.

Other stuff:

• Just one day left to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for the new book. Entering helps me.

• I have sold a total of 6881 units of Are We There Yet? as of today. Wouldn’t it be cool if it could be 10k by Thursday?! Tell your friends!

• The launch party for Making Friends is at Pryes Brewing on June 10th. Free registration here. You get a drink ticket with a preorder from Magers & Quinn, the sponsoring store. Same link!

• I’m going a little bit crazy with almost-May middle school teaching, but I’m trying to keep it together. You can probably track my progress on Instagram. There are no guarantees.

• Questions about book writing or Kindle deals or anything? Lmk!