Faking Normal Debut Week

It's hard to put into words what the week of February 25th, 2014, means to me as a mom and as a lover of words. It's the partial culmination of Courtney's print journey, the proverbial crooked path from draft to publication, from dream to reality, from doubt to certainty. In many ways, it still feels as if I should pinch myself just to test the reality! But Courtney C. Stevens did it. She did it, and I'm thrilled and blessed and so happy for her. And that's Real, but it's also the stuff that dreams are built on.

Courtney wrote a little picture poem when she was six or seven, and I thought "Wow, that's pretty good, baby girl." I sent it off to a contest, and it was published. She wrote poems, scribbled short stories and essays and non-fiction articles over her  high school years. She earned the highest mark on her writing portfolio and won a national short story contest. In college she wrote songs and skits for youth to perform and did a lot of public speaking. In her career as a youth minister, she wrote Bible studies and more songs and poems and skits. She wrote all kinds of things, some for herself and some that were required. Always, in the back of her mind, she wanted to write a novel. She'd written that down as a goal in high school. Someone wrote about her in the high school newspaper during her senior year that she'd one day become a published author. Wow. Prophetic.

The stuff of dreams.

I used to want to write a novel. Or something. A million years ago. Because I also wrote all kinds of stuff when I was young. I still have the handwritten poems and stories on notebook paper; Court read through them (and giggled. A lot.) long ago. I even took a writing class a few years ago. But what it, and Courtney, showed me, was that I know where periods and commas go, but I don't have the guts, the skill, the plot, or the magic needed to string words together page after page ... to actually write a novel. Nor the willingness to test it, to put myself out there, or to risk rejection (an accepted "given" when it comes to the writing world).

 Courtney has all of that and more. And an ability to learn from her experiences. She made the investment in herself and strapped on the commitment it took to help make HER dreams come true. Hard work. Learning her craft. Joining a professional writing guild. Learning the trends and the market. Reading. And more reading. Learning to write. And rewrite. And REWRITE.

And I'm so thankful that she allowed me a tiny bit in the process.

So, February 25th.
Courtney's first novel, Faking Normal (HarperTeen) appeared in bookstores and in particular, at Parnassus Books in Nashville, where the book launch party would be The Nashville writing community supported its own, and so did our family. A wonderful, exciting evening for all of us.

So many images from that night -way too many to put here- but it was awesome! Thanks to close family - Matt and Angela, Nana, Barbara and Mike, Lex and Lynn, Jeff and Kim and kids, Matt and Pat, Kristen and Destin and kids, and Adam -plus friends, Kathy and Pitts, Mary B., Adam K., Bruce H., Eric M. and so so many from the SCBWI writing community!

Two days later, on February 27th, Court revisited her hometown high school, Ballard Memorial (Ballard County, KY) for an author visit. These wonderful ladies from the school invited her and made her (and her family) feel very welcome.

Gayle ( curriculum supervisor, Courtney, Kristin ( librarian) and Charlotte (writing teacher).

Courtney spoke to groups of selected students all day - a Channel Your Brave topic - and enjoyed a wonderful reception by her home community that night. Thank you, Ballard County teachers, friends and family, for coming to support a hometown gal.

 Thanks to Carla and Brooke. You did all the work (and made cookies) and sold books and sold tees. You are amazing friends; you made it so much easier on Courtney. I love you both!

The above photos - just a few of the many treasured people in Courtney's life.

It was a very long day for Courtney, but a wonderful one!

On to Bowling Green High School for an assembly during the afternoon on February 28th.

And afterward, off to the BG Barnes and Noble that evening (where Court actually wrote a lot of Faking Normal). State Street UMC came in droves and supported their former youth minister. The crowd was tremendous, and B&N sold out of books! So great to see so many of Court's former students both at the church and at LWC.

There were so many people at Barnes and Noble that the store ran out of chairs!

The STORY CRUSH TOUR:
On Saturday morning, March 1st, Courtney flew to South Hadley, MA, for the first leg of The Story Crush Tour (Harper Collins) with fellow authors Katie Cotugno (How to Love), Melissa Kantor (Maybe One Day) and Robyn Schneider (The Beginning of Everything) at Odyssey Books.

March 2nd - Oblong Books, Rhineback, NY. Adam Potter was there!

March 3rd Fairless Hills, PA, Barnes and Noble, joined by Lauren Oliver (Delirium trilogy).

Courtney is signing with a special pen made for her by hometown craftsman. He made it with olive wood from the Holy Land.

On March 4th, the authors flew to Decatur, GA, for a stop at The Little Shop of Stories.

A particularly special visitor to Little Shop of Stories - Courtney's high school writing teacher.

Also, on March 4th came the release of Courtney's first Harper Impulse novella: The Blue-Haired Boy. This is Bodee's story, the co-star of Faking Normal. It is a prequel to the novel.

Last stop on The Story Crush Tour - Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, SC- March 5th.

 Authors: Courtney C. Stevens, Robyn Schneider, Katie Cotugno, Melissa Kantor, Lauren Oliver.

Each store event began with a reading and/or a panel discussion before selling/signing books.

A special fan! He and his wife made a great effort to come from Hilton Head to Court's signing event, not because they knew HER, but because he worked for Court's grandfather and grandmother (and also helped babysit Court's mom when she was a toddler) as a teenager and had great love and respect for them. How amazing is that!

The first few days of the release of Faking Normal has come and gone (so excited that Faking Normal is doing well!). There were so many "firsts"  for Courtney.
First published novel.
First debut release party and signing event.
First ebook novella.
First OFFICIAL AUTHOR school visit (Court's alma mater).
First hometown signing (thank you for SOOO much support!)
First tour with other authors.

What have I left out? That Courtney's message in Faking Normal is one of hope. It's more than a tee shirt, more than a silicone bracelet, more than a phrase in a book, more than a topic of conversation. And it is EVERYWHERE! Classrooms, libraries, social events, at home, and pep talks between friends ... even at the beach.

So Go Channel Your Brave!

It was so exciting as Courtney's mom to see all this unfold. I'm blessed and thankful and amazed.
I close with this last picture ...

... and this thought: "Sometimes we only see the shadow of things." Courtney C. Stevens

But Faking Normal is REAL.

Go forth and BUY!

A New and Exciting Year

Whew! Such a long time since I've posted. I need to play catch up!

The end of 2013 was busy and enjoyable. We closed the pool, spent our month at the beach, and readjusted to the cooler temps back in KY. One highlight was when Courtney showed her Nana a copy of the ARC of Faking Normal! Nana had read the original, non-revised, unsold version of  FN on her Nook. It was pretty exciting to make this photo!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the family in Nashville, and we planned for the holidays at  our house for Christmas. I was excited to receive the new edition set of the Harry Potter books from Courtney for Christmas. She said I could not be ME if I didn't read them! Despite the fact that I've seen the movies, I just never found time to read the books. I was teaching five and six year old children when they started coming out, so they weren't a curriculum interest, and I wasn't into reading fantasy (middle grade or otherwise) at that time ... I just never got around to it. In fact, I only started watching the movies on the big screen when the fourth one came out! Soon, I was hooked. So all seven HP books were my first  reads in 2014! Loved them! (of course).

Meanwhile, the launch date for Courtney's book is fast approaching. There have been many milestones in her journey to publication and I've been thrilled to be a part of her process. Here we are wearing our Faking Normal tee-shirts.

Faking Normal made it at least to the final round of Epic Reads' 2013 Book Shimmy Awards in the only category in

which it was eligible - most anticipated book of 2014. An amazing feat for a debut author among more seasoned ones! And I love my Book Shimmy tote bag, which the "Tea Time" gals sent me from The Decatur (GA) Book Festival. Court was there and also at DragonCon, a first for her. She dressed as a Shadow Hunter from the Mortal Instruments novels by Cassandra Clare, complete with leather and fake tattoos!

Early book promotion is underway at all the levels! The book launch party/signing event will be at Parnassus Books in Nashville on the day Faking Normal debuts, February 25th. It will be followed by an author visit to Courtney's hometown schools, Ballard Memorial High and Middle School on February 27th with a signing that night, and another signing at Barnes & Noble in Bowling Green, KY (where Court and Adam lived for many years) on February 28th. Imagine our thrill when friends went by the bookstore recently and found this sign in anticipation of the event there:

Harper Impulse will publish an e-book novella, a companion to Faking Normal, titled The Blue-Haired Boy - Bodee's own story - which takes place before the events in FN. It will be available the week following Faking Normal, digitally only. It has a WOW of a cover!

Soooo ... exciting things are happening in the Stevens' family! We're blessed and thankful! We're just trying to "Channel our Brave" while we impatiently wait for February 25th!

Little League World Series 2013

Every year about this time, I enjoy watching TV's coverage of The Little League World Series. These teams of eleven through thirteen year old boys are exposed to national and international fame through the world of baseball. It is an exciting time for everyone connected with all the teams who are good enough to make it through their own division championships and journey to Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

I identify with the moms and dads. There is nothing more dramatic than watching your child - son or daughter - compete at a high level for their age group in the sport of their choice. Matt lettered in track and field in high school. Courtney lettered in softball, basketball and track and played as a summer leaguer/travel ball-er in softball. For many years we occupied camp chairs or squirmed on metal bleachers to watch our kids compete. I remember it as a time of shared empathy for disappointing losses and racing pulses and wet palms for close wins. Great companionship, too, among parents and players. We were fortunate not to run into mean players who bullied and intimidated teammates; or negative parents whose children could either not preform well enough for their approval or who could, alternately, do nothing wrong (!); or the crazy fan who screamed obscenities at refs.

And FUN. Road trips (how long does a bathroom stop take when teenage girls are involved?) Ballpark eateries (hotdogs, hotdogs, hotdogs). The smell of HOT - sunscreen, dust, and sweat! The sounds - crack of the bat, shatter of glass when the ball finds a windshield, the sound of cleats on sidewalks, and the encouragement of parents' from the stands! And especially the thrill of seeing your child - hitting a homerun, throwing out a runner at the plate, catching that pop-up - then turn and give you that heads-up that reads HAPPY.

"Good Eye! You can do it! One More, One MORE! Three up, three down! Batter, batter!" I went to a few local ballgames this year. It doesn't matter whether the players are six, twelve or seventeen years old. You hear the same chants, the same phrases, the same yells from the field and from the stands! Some things just don't change.

Last fall, Goodlettsville, TN (near Nashville) won the southern division and went to Williamsport, Pa to go all the way to the top. They won the US Championship, but fell to Japan in the final game. A great showing! This year it is the South Nashville team (Brentwood) who won the division and are competing in the LLWS. At the current time they are fighting for survival against Washington. A loss is elimination. A win sends them one more step up the ladder toward the final game. I'm following them on Twitter and watching them on ESPN, hoping they'll make a comeback and win!

But whether they do, or whether they don't, I still love that they made it this far. I'm so happy for their experiences, and I still get choked up when I see the parents so excited for their kids.

And I remember! <3