Laura Nowlin's Blog: How did I end up with a Blog?

The audiobook resurrected Finny in my mind.

If He had Been with Me was originally published before the death of Michael Brown, but I would like to make something clear:

Finny and Autumn would have attended protests in their hometown of  Ferguson, MO.

Autumn would have gone with Jamie and the whole gang.

Finny and Sylvie would have been there together, but without the rest of their friends.

There would have been awkward waves, glances filled with longing etc. (Think New Years Eve, but in the daytime with signs instead of pots.)

This is cannon; Finny would never have feelings for a girl would not say that

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

This is a bit late, but IHHBWM has been re-released with a new cover![image error]

I have once again gone a whole year without posting! Part of the issue is that I have a baby now; here’s a picture of him from a year ago, being tiny and amazing:

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Here is a recent picture of him, being humongous and still amazing:

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The other issue is, I have serious doubts that anyone out there really cares about anything I have to say about anything. I spend enough time complaining on Twitter if anyone really wants to know my thoughts and feelings, and I don’t have any publishing news at the moment. My agent and I are looking for a publisher for my first adult work, but until then, all I have to offer are promises that I am writing.

I am! Really! It’s just slower now…

Soon after my last post, I went off my Multiple Sclerosis medication to try to get pregnant. We were successful a few months later, and I am due in December.

I hope to have good news soon about my first Adult novel, which at the moment is titled GRAVITY.

Here’s a pic of me pregnant for posterity.

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In interviews I’ve told the story of how I was inspired to write If He had Been with Me by I dream I had as I was coming to the close of the darkest period of my life. I’m finally in a place where I am ready to write about what I was going through in that time, just before I wrote IHHBWM. This will be my first adult book.

The project I am working on is dark- definitely the darkest thing I’ve ever written. My characters aren’t characters to read about because you like them or agree with what they have to say. It’s going to be- hopefully- a book about twisted perspectives, about people who are lost and know they will never be found.

Thankfully, I made it out of that place. My characters though, probably won’t be so lucky.

If He had Been with Me  is  #3 on the New York Times bestseller list for YA e-books!

This is a total surprise. The e-book version was on sale last week, but no one expected this to happen. Clearly, my readers have been recommending my book. Thank you to each and everyone of you who has told friends and family about If He had Been with Me. 

Thank you so much.

When I wrote my first novel, I was processing my past; mapping out what made me the person that I am.  I was trying to tell the readers what I had learned, how hard those lessons had been.

When I wrote my second novel, I was thinking of my future, of my readers’ futures. This is a novel about passions and hopes. I was trying to inspire my readers.

I was sick with Multiple Sclerosis while writing this novel, but I didn’t know it. What I knew was that I was tired, that I felt like I was carrying a burden that I could never set down. Where If He had Been with Me is long and ponderous, This Song is (Not) for You is short and intense.

There will be those who loved my first novel who will not enjoy my second, but I also think there will be those who will like my second novel better than my first, there will be those who love my second but can’t get through my first.

It’s out there now on the shelves of major retails and wherever books are sold online. Here’s the Amazon link, and thank you for reading.

PS My novel was significantly inspired by The Icebergs. Check them out.

A story of music, graffiti art and love without limits. Available for pre-order now!

Good News! My MS treatment is working, and I am feeling so much stronger and able to take on the tasks of Life!

Bad News! Because MS slowed me down so much, I missed the deadline to get my next novel published this year!

I’m not sure when I missed this deadline. Somewhere in the muddle of emails to and from my editor, perhaps this info was passed on the me, but I missed it. “This Song is (Not) for You” will be published in the spring/summer of 2016. Three years after my first novel.

Will I still have any fans left?