Like it or yacht, here are the boat puns.
What a wild start to 2021, right?
I could get knocked up and have a baby before Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships comes out at the end of November (I won’t), but that doesn’t mean it’s been quiet behind the scenes! I’ve seen cover art, done my copy edits, written my dedication, acknowledgments, author bio, taken my new author photo. saw the interior design for my book, and got started on my #30bypubday bucket list challenge!
Things have finally settled down for a bit, meaning I can focus on drafting book 2 again. I’m hoping to type “The End” on this draft by March 1st.
I asked what ya’ll wanted to see in my newsletter this month. The answers were amusing, so here are some boat puns and a bit of insight into how I make my Instagram reels!
First up, boat puns…
When I knew I needed to change the title for my book, I got so desperate I sent my editor an entire email filled with puns on the word yacht. I’m going to include some of these *embarrassing* puns along with some other awful ideas I had for the title.
Luckily, my editor kindly ignored the wild yacht puns.
Like it or Yacht
Yacht What I Expected
If You Catch My Drift
All Hearts on Deck
Sunsets and Good Butts (Okay, I didn’t seriously send that one, but I should have. It would’ve been great.)
Hearts Aweigh
Girl Adrift
(Ugh okay, I’m literally cringing reading these. I think that’s enough for now. Needless to say, I’m glad Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships was the winner.
If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably noticed I’ve been making a lot of Instagram reels lately.
I think reels are a lot of fun to make! I love the short form and minimal effort involved.
I’ve gotten a LOT of questions about how I come up with ideas for my video. I wish I had some fool-proof method to pass on, but the truth is…I get random ideas…and then I make the video.
I know, I know, boring. I don’t plan out my reels ahead of time. Seriously.
Usually, I’ll be taking a shower and get an idea for how a song can either:
A. Relate to a romance books or writing.
Or B. Be rewritten into a parody song about romance books or writing.
Then I just…do that. I write the lyrics and record it. Or film it and put it to the song.
For whatever reason, writing parody songs is one of my useless talents. I’ve been doing it for years, ever since I was a student teacher making “Vocab Raps” for my middle schoolers.
CONTENT WARNING: WATCHING THIS WILL CAUSE SEVERE SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT.
Over the years, I’ve forced myself to stop stressing about rejection. Instead, I take as many chances as I can.
I always feel a bit exposed when I post a silly video, whether it’s a romance parody for a reel or a karaoke video just because…I like karaoke. I love singing and making silly songs, and I get a lot of joy sharing them with people, so I make myself do it. Sometimes I still worry other people will find me annoying or embarrassing, but I figure if I’m being myself and people don’t like it, that’s totally fine. They don’t have to watch it.
It’s sort of the same with writing and publishing. You spend all this time pouring yourself into characters, a world, a story. It’s yours. Pieces of your heart are scattered throughout it…But if you want that book out in the world, you’ve got to take a leap of faith and put it out there. You’ve got to face the possibility that no one will “get it” or “love it” but you.
And even if someone else DOES love it (you get an agent, an editor), you you won’t stop worrying about what people will think. What if everyone you ask to blurb hates it? What if you get awful trade reviews? Even the most beloved books get DNFs (Did not finish) and one-star reviews on Goodreads. You’ll wonder regularly if you are embarrassing your publisher and they regret buying your book. (You aren’t. They don’t.)
Even worse, some people don’t ever start the book/art/random parody video. They hold themselves back (from writing, or applying for something, or making that random parody video) because they’re afraid of what others will think. But I challenge you to give that fear a big ‘ol middle finger and do the thing anyway. It isn’t your responsibility to be the most likable or least annoying person in the room. You can’t control what other people will think of you anyway.
Anyway there’s my sappy pep talk about being yourself and taking chances and all that jazz. Go do that thing you’ve always wanted to do but were too afraid of rejection to do.
See you next month!
XO,
Sarah