This arrived today - and I'm already in love with the cover, before I even start to read the story.
But I think what I love about it most is the story behind its author, Angeline Boulley.
Described in an article in the New York Times as having 'gumption' (I'd use the phrase 'takes a lot of balls'), Boulley took ten years to write the book - getting up at 5am to write before work; writing during her son's hockey practices and work meetings (did it really say work meetings? I checked - and it did...) and through periods of upheaval in her life, including a move to Washington, as well as a divorce.
Boulley, a member of the Sault Ste.Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians, said she wanted to create a character who claims her identity as an Ojibwe woman.
Writing an acclaimed debut without specific training, Boulley fell back on her work as director of the Office of Indian Education at the United States Department of Education - reminding herself that as a grant writer telling compelling stories about why the community needed money to address an issue, she was more than capable of telling a story.
But what sets her apart from a lot of other authors is the time, and persistence, it took to write her novel.
Just like Elisabeth Egan said in the New York Times article, "Wunderkind novelists are fun to hoot and holler about, but late bloomers deserve a solemn moment of silence."
And I agree - because it takes a certain kind of gumption - or balls, if you like - to keep on writing for that long, especially when most people around you are probably treating it like a fantasy of yours and making comments along the lines of, "you do know a lot of people dream of becoming a writer, but never do" (you'd be surprised at how many people feel the need to say this to you). Then to keep going when everything in your life is going tits up - that's another skill. But to then have to send it out time and time again, only to get rejection after rejection, until FINALLY you get the 'yes' you're looking for - that's the hardest bit of all.
As for me, I took six years to write my book. During which I gave up my business to go and work for someone else; struggled to fit things in as a mum; and watched my daughter start school. Don't even get me started on the divorce (and all the mess that came during, and after, it).
Now I'm a single parent, working full time, getting home, sorting the kids and sitting up till 10pm, 11pm, sometimes midnight, just to write or contact agents.
That's when you know you're really hungry for something. When no matter how hard it is, you just can't give up.
And it's what I remember hearing Bernardine Evaristo - the first black woman ever to win the Booker Prize for her eighth book: Girl, Woman, Other - talk about. How someone who is serious about their writing will just keep going until they make it. Because to them, there is no other alternative.
Determination (and thick skin) is definitely something every writer needs in spades, some more than others.
But do writers who have worked the hardest to achieve success deserve the loudest cheers?
I think so.
Do you?
** For a link to the article in the New York Times see below:
#AngelineBoulley #TheFireKeepersDaughter #gumption #takesalotofballs #BernadineEvaristo #GirlWomanOther #TheBookerPrize #latebloomers #NewYorkTimes #ElisabethEgan
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