(If this post looks familiar, it’s because it had gone live right before our website crashed the week of April 18th. We decided to repost it to make sure all of our fantastic readers had a chance to view it. Thank you again for your patience while the site was down.)
by Bethany Turner, @SeeBethanyWrite
I’m working through some regret, and I hope it’s okay with you that for the next couple minutes, I pass along some of the things I’ve learned in the past couple years that I truly hope will help you along the way as you navigate your own writing journey. But, truthfully, there’s also an aspect of this that will, no doubt, serve as a catharsis for me as I continue to develop and grow. Thanks in advance for the free therapy.
To begin with, let’s step back in time to 2020. (Okay…forget I said that! #NeverGoingBack) Ahem…rather, allow me to reflect on 2020. By the start of that year, I had wrapped up a romantic comedy called Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish. Goodness, I was happy with the way that book turned out. Not to sound vain or anything…it’s just that Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish had been the most intense, overwhelming rewrite of my career to that point (and, truthfully, it still holds the title), and for it to end up as anything I was even remotely proud of? Well, let’s just say it was a minor miracle. The first draft I submitted to my editor was really, really bad. But she and I worked very hard to envision what it could be, and by the time we reached the finish line, it was—in my opinion—the best thing I had written to that point. I was so excited to introduce readers to that story.
And then, of course, the world completely changed beginning in March of 2020. By the time Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish released in May, bookstores and libraries were closed, all my in-person events were canceled, and we were just beginning to get a handle on using Zoom for everything. The release came and went and we sold about seven copies of that book I was so proud of. (Okay…maybe we sold a few more than that. But it really did feel like seven.)
My sales weren’t where they needed to be (even without the pandemic as a factor) and my publisher chose not to carry on with me. Soon, however, I was thrilled to sign with another publisher. I knew that all my worries were behind me. By the time Plot Twist released, I knew—I just knew—the world would be back on track.
I never could have imagined that in June of 2021, we’d still be dealing with most of what we’d been facing in 2020, and that we would have added on supply shortages and an increasingly divided and frustrated nation. I can’t tell you the number of times I wanted to shout, “Read this book! It won’t solve all the problems the world is throwing at you, but it may allow you to escape—to laugh, at a time when laughs are difficult to come by—for just a little while.” But the truth is I was too cowardly to say that to anyone. I feared appearing insensitive. Friends were facing health struggles. Jobs were being lost. Families were struggling to make ends meet. How could I go out there and act like a rom-com mattered, in the midst of all that?
And that’s the heart of the regret that I’ve been trying to wrangle. Because, you know what? A rom-com does matter in the midst of all that. My stories matter. Your stories matter. Why is it that we can plainly see all the ways our lives are better because of the time we spent with a book someone else wrote, and yet we’re so quick to dismiss the possibility that our book could have the same impact for someone else? (Or maybe I’m the only one who does that? Yeah…I doubt it.)
I’m going to tell you what I’ve been telling myself for quite a while now:
STOP IT.
Stop it, stop it, stop it!
Your stories matter.
Your voice matters.
You matter. There is a reader out there whose life will be richer for having read what you wrote. Your story can do for someone else what your favorite book by your favorite author does for you every time you pick it up. So…get busy writing it! There’s someone out there who really needs to read it. Don’t allow your fears to prevent you from blessing someone’s life that way. (And if you ever need me to remind you of any of this, when the fears overwhelm and the path seems dark, text me at (970) 387-7811. I really do wish I’d asked someone to tell me to stop lying to myself. I’ll be happy to tell you to “Stop it, stop it, stop it!” anytime you need me to.)
Sometimes dreams come true. Other times, the best outcome begins with an epic fail.
Career-driven McKenna Keaton has devoted her life to attaining the senior partnership at her law firm. So asking a man on a date should be nothing. But the past four days have been the worst of her life and have called everything she thought she knew about herself into question. Besides, she can’t remember her last real date—one that didn’t involve using a blind date as an opportunity to get a stranger’s perspective on effective cross-examination techniques. (It’s like sharing fondue with a jury!)
But a real date? And with shy, nerdy Henry Blumenthal—McKenna’s high school rival for valedictorian who once took three hours to beat her at chess? Scratch that. He’s Hank Blume now, the famed documentarian, Durham’s darling son, who has attained all his dreams and more. He also happens to look like he stepped out of an Eddie Bauer catalog.
Whereas McKenna is a disgraced workaholic from New York on unpaid leave, accused of a white-collar crime she would never commit, succumbing to panic attacks, watching her dreams unravel. At age thirty-eight—and destined by the family curse to die before she turns forty, it appears—it’s absolutely the wrong time to have a major crush on a man. Especially one who treasures his memories of McKenna as the girl Most Likely to Succeed.
“Pitch-perfect comedic timing, a relatable heroine, and a refreshing sweetness elevate this novel above the sea of modern rom-coms. The rare author who can make me laugh-out-loud, The Do-Over is Bethany Turner at her best.” —Lauren Layne, New York Times bestselling author
“Bethany Turner has crafted a delightful, witty story with zippy dialogue, warmly relatable characters, and hilariously apt pop culture references. I found myself sneaking off to read just one more chapter. I’m still smiling thinking about this book. Reading it felt like eating a big bowl of Lucky Charms mixed with Fruity Pebbles. A colorful explosion of happy.” —Rachel Linden, bestselling author of The Enlightenment of Bees
Bethany Turner writes romantic comedies for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight. Her titles include The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck, Wooing Cadie McCaffrey, Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish, Plot Twist, and The Do-Over. A former bank vice-president and a three-time cancer survivor (all before she turned 35), Bethany now serves on the leadership staff of a church in Southwest Colorado, where she lives with her husband and their two teenaged sons. For her romantic comedy novels, Bethany has been awarded multiple Selah Awards, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, been repeatedly named to Family Fiction’s annual list of 40 Essential Romance Authors, and been a finalist for the Vivian Award and the Christy Award. But she’s also received some of the most fabulous one-star reviews ever written! (Seriously…there are some absolute gems in there.) Hang out with Bethany at seebethanywrite.com or @seebethanywrite across social media platforms, where she’s likely to be found celebrating those one-star reviews and obsessing over Colin Firth. Text her anytime at (970) 387-7811.