Heather Barbieri: Starting Again

“Does it get easier?” That’s a question that often comes up at author appearances, in reference to writing a new book. But it could just as well apply to any aspect of our lives. Change isn’t always easy, on or off the page, is it?

Sometimes, we’re prepared for changes and challenges—or think we are—sometimes not. When I was writing my latest (third) novel, The Cottage at Glass Beach, I found myself navigating without a map, much as my main character, Nora, was. I’d been blindsided by the sudden loss of my 73-year-old mother to an insidious, untreatable condition called cerebral amyloidosis. While struggling to make sense of what had happened and support family and friends, I was also working to meet the agreed-upon deadline for Cottage.  (The book deal and her death came within two weeks of each other.) Those months brought other unforeseen challenges, and there were days I wasn’t sure I could write the book, days of plodding along, putting one word in front of another, one foot in front of another. And yet I came to realize the grief process and the creative process are intertwined, springing, as they do, from the depths of our subconscious. The most difficult paths can bring the greatest rewards, if we’re willing to follow them.

Now, I’m home from the summer book tour, that heady, busy interlude meeting readers and booksellers, a writer’s public time, a welcome respite from what can be a solitary profession. Another autumn approaches. It’s time to start writing again, a daunting task, at least at the outset. It’s like jumping off a high dive, really, in the early going. We stand on the edge of the board and think it looks like a long way down (though it isn’t really; heights can be deceptive, viewed from above). And yet once we push off, it’s exhilarating, and we wonder what we were afraid of. Even if we flop—and it can sting, yes—we can pick ourselves up and give it another go, not so much starting over, but starting again. The important thing is the willingness to fully, compassionately experience whatever life brings and learn from it, to take the plunge, as writers, as readers, as human beings.

I’m not sure exactly where the new book will take me, but with a little help from the imagination and a good deal of determination, I’m excited to find out. It’s time to take a deep breath and dive in, meeting whatever the next year will bring.

What challenge(s) have you met this year? Where has your journey taken you, and where would you like to go? Let’s put some positive energy out there and cheer each other on! I'm giving away two copies of my book to two lucky winners!

The Cottage at Glass Beach (Harper) is the story of a political wife who, fleeing scandal, retreats to a remote island off the coast of Maine to protect her young daughters and come to terms with the childhood tragedy that still haunts her. “A wonderful, subtle, transporting story.” (Booklist, starred review.)

Heather Barbieri is the author of two previous acclaimed novels, The Lace Makers of Glenmara (Harper) and Snow in July (Soho). She lives in Seattle with her family and is at work on her fourth novel.  Visit Heather on facebook or at www.heatherbarbieri.com

***Heather's winner is Lory Lee!  Congrats, Lory!  Please an email with your mailing info to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com.  Thanks!***