You Should Write a Book

I did! And it's going to be published. :)

A couple weeks ago I wrote this piece about the way God can collapse time, and the dreams we held in our heart, dreams that seemed like they might never come true, suddenly arrive on our doorstep. All that waiting, worrying, wondering suddenly vanishes, and what we desired so dearly enters our lives.

After years of sharing my writing on Instagram and also here on Substack, as well as past blogs, I’ve often gotten the question, Why don’t you write a book? or, You should write a book! from readers who appreciate my way with words. I’ve written several books, in fact, many stories and even once upon a time many poems. You don’t get to be a good writer without writing…a lot. The truth is I have more that I’ve written that hasn’t been published than I have published. It’s all part of the practice. Not every story turns out right. Not every book makes it to the finish line. Not every word should be read by someone other than you.

About ten years ago, after my father abruptly passed away, I grew very aware of the fact that the stories of my family and ancestry, of the Old World and where I come from, could be lost forever if I didn’t take the time to write them down. After all, my father was now dead, and whatever stories I hadn’t asked him to share were gone with him forever. I began to write what would become my non-fiction work, The Dreams that Break Your Heart, a manuscript that spans three generations and two continents, beginning with my parents’ lives in Southern Italy and weaving through my own experience as a creative, free-spirited girl growing up in an old-fashioned household. To my surprise, the work began to receive attention—agents were willing to speak to me when I sent them excerpts; publishers considered the work in earnest; writing retreats and workshops began to admit me on the strength of what I submitted from its pages. But I couldn’t find someone to actually pick up the story with a heavy Italian-American theme and publish it.

Life went on. I started podcasts. I got married. I worked for the Governor of New York State and didn’t write anything except emails for four years (it did not feel good, I assure you.) I had children. I’d long stopped sending the work out for consideration, and I began to let go of the idea that the book would ever be published. I’d kind of made peace with it, to be honest. Maybe I’d publish other books, maybe not. The world kept turning and other obligations and interests started to (kind of) fill the void.

Then one day I had an old friend on my podcast, a writer whom I’d met, actually, at one of those conferences I’d been accepted into. Tomás had recently published a memoir, Let Me Count the Ways, with the University of Nebraska Press and told me that he’d had a wonderful experience, and he could make a simple introduction, should I want it. The rest would be up to God and the manuscript, of course. I agreed, not expecting much, and then, one day right before this past Christmas, all that time collapsed, and I received an email from the editor saying that she loved my book and wanted to publish it.

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve signed my first book contract, and The Dreams that Break Your Heart is slated to be published in a year or two. (More on that to come.)

I’ve been busy behind the scenes working on some rewrites that I’m really excited about, and I hope to share some excerpts here as the year goes on. My publisher, the University of Nebraska Press, is a highly-regarded university press whose authors have gone on to win many awards, including three who’ve gone on to win the Nobel Prize. My memoir will be part of their “American Lives” series, which Newsweek called “splendid” and whose editor is the famed American author Tobias Wolff (best known for his memoir, This Boy’s Life). So I’m in good company.

My parents at their very beginning in Southern Italy. My book charts their courtship as well as the hardships my mother, especially, faced, both as a child and as a new wife here in New York.

The American Lives series “features works of creative or literary memoir [that] provide glimpses into singular American lives,” and I’m proud to say that my book will give a glimpse into not only my own life and the lives of my ancestors, but the Italian-American experience, which deserves its own seat at the literary table more often, in my humble and biased opinion.

If you’re reading this, you support and enjoy my work in some way, and I’m grateful for that. I look forward to sharing this journey with you, both excerpts as they arise as well as the editing and publishing experience.

Thanks for being here with me, truly.