Author and new Woodland Valley resident, Jenny Milchman just sent me this wonderful piece for the blog (see below). She just finished her second novel, Ruin Falls, right here in our midst. The kick off of her book tour will be at The Golden Notebook in Woodstock on April 26th. Here is a link to information about the event. http://jennymilchman.com/tour/invitation/2014-04-26/the-golden-notebook
Jenny told me that she would welcome any valley residents who can attend. Here is a little bit more about the author in her own words.
Home Again, Home
Again, Jiggity Jig
I moved to Woodland Valley with my family last September,
and whenever I meet some of the great folks who live here, they ask me where we
came from.
That’s when I come to a great, screeching halt.
It might seem like a relatively easy question to answer, but
for us it isn’t, and not because we’re in the Witness Protection Program and
have forgotten some of the facts in our new biographies.
Instead, when asked this, we stop to consider. Should we say
Pennsylvania, the last state we were in just before we crossed into New York?
Or Oregon, the state we spent the largest block of time in? How about South
Dakota, simply because we had so much fun there?
In 2013 my family and I lived on the road for seven months,
driving a total of 35,000 miles. We didn’t really live anywhere. Or, we lived
everywhere.
Let me explain.
I am an author who took a very long time to get published.
Although my debut novel came out last year, it was actually the eighth book I
had written. All told, it took thirteen years from the time I first began
setting down words on a page to finally seeing a book of mine on the shelves.
And during that decade-plus there were many near misses, close calls, and
wretched disappointments.
There were also many changes in our lives. When I started
trying to get published, my husband and I didn’t have kids yet. I remember
loving grandparents-to-be raising concerns and leaving articles about falling
fertility rates around in hard-to-miss places.
“Should we start trying?” I asked my husband back then.
“But you’re going to be published any day now,” he replied.
“And then who will have time for a baby?”
Those babies were seven and five by the time I was finally
offered my first book deal.
Since the only thing harder than getting published is trying
to stay that way, my husband and I knew we would have to give this thing our
all once my book finally came out. Hence was the idea for the World’s Longest
Book Tour born.
We “car-schooled” our kids, visiting 45 states and about 500
bookstores, libraries, and book clubs. Oh, and of course, Mt. Rushmore,
Gettysburg, and the Henry Ford Museum for the car buff in the backseat.
It was an unparalleled adventure, but the only thing that
could top it was finding our way to a beautiful home in the Valley. We’re very
glad to have settled here, and already looking forward to being back next
September.
You see, I have another novel coming out at the end of
April. And it’s time to hit the road again.
Jenny Milchman’s
debut novel, Cover of Snow, was
chosen as an IndieNext and Target Pick, and nominated for a Mary Higgins Clark
award. Jenny’s second novel, Ruin Falls,
is coming out in April and she will hit the road with her family on the second
multi-month book tour, kicking it off at her new hometown bookstore, The Golden
Notebook.
