“It will be ‘casual,’” I told my mom. “An intimate backyard ceremony, followed by a chill celebration with family and friends.”
A wooden arch. Justin’s nieces as flower girls. My nephew as ring bearer. Bowie could be there, too. I could see it all in my head.
But planning a wedding, even a “super chill, casual” affair is never easy. And an outdoor wedding in late May comes with its own challenges—namely the weather, the forecast for which seems to change every hour (I know, because for two week straight, checking the weather app on my phone became my new religion).
Two weeks before the wedding, it started raining every day. The forecast said it would continue, but we’d have a break on Saturday. On Monday, though, the rain had shifted to thunderstorm icons repeating with their lightning bolts right through the weekend. But although it poured in the mornings—the sky turning a dark gray, rain coming down in heavy sheets that left the ground soaked—the sky cleared in the afternoons.
Saturday was hot and humid, the kind of day that keeps even southerners indoors, and Justin’s family was traveling from the dry west. No one was sure how to dress for the steamy combination of rain and heat.
We checked the weather as soon as we woke up. Rain was predicted at four, right when we’d planned the ceremony. Justin and I looked at each other.
“They could be wrong.”
In the May, there always seems to be a fifty-fifty chance of rain.
“But they could also be right.”
We sent out a text at nine, asking everyone to arrive two hours early. As soon as the officiant arrived, we were out the backdoor, in the blazing sun. First Justin, then the flower girls, my sister with the ring bearer, and Bowie in his tux.
It was exactly as I imagined. We exchanged vows and sealed them with a kiss. We headed inside for the champagne toast.
And then it poured.
We’d planned and prepared for everything we could, and then adapted at the last minute. It turned out perfect.
This is the mindset I’m trying to take going into pub month for Indie Darling.
I’ve written the best book I can. I’m going on the podcast circuit, giving interviews, and sharing my book everywhere I can (even braving awkward social interactions to do so).
I’m doing what’s in my control, prepared to adapt to what’s not (reader response, reviews, coverage once it’s out), but hopeful it will become a part of the current conversation on the ways women are treated by the media, artistic legacy, and the power of community. I also hope readers will find it a delightful, page-turning mystery that immerses them in Nashville’s vibrant city and music scene.
Just one book I’ve loved lately (I’ve had a lot going on!)
The Keeper by Tana French
Tana French is an “auto-buy” author for me. I fell in love with her sweeping prose, atmospheric, small-town Irish settings, and lovable but complicated characters in her first two novels, In the Woods and The Likeness. These two are still my favorites. The Likeness, with its university setting and uncanny similarity between the protagonist and murder victim, led to early comparisons with my debut The Resemblance. And, in fact, French was the author who showed me I didn’t have to sacrifice lush prose for a compelling mystery. In her novels, this lushness gives depth to the characters, their motives, and the nuances of the plot.
The Keeper is the third installment of her Cal Hooper series. Cal, a retired Chicago cop, has moved to the small town of Arknakelty in search of a quiet life. His tenure there has been anything but. In the first of the series, he meets Trey, a scraggly, almost feral kid, whom Cal slowly teaches woodworking skills and feeds in exchange for help with his projects. But when Trey’s brother goes missing, Cal soon finds himself in the middle of a mystery, and worse, enmeshed in the complicated politics of small town Arknakelty.
By book 3, Cal now has the lay of the land (or as much as any outsider can), but after a young woman dies under mysterious circumstances, Cal finds himself facing his most powerful opponent yet, and is pulled deeper into Arknakelty’s secrets and generational grudges.
This feels like the last in the Cal Hooper series. I’d love for Tana French to return to the Dublin Murder Squad, but I know I’ll read whatever comes next.
What’s keeping me up at night.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: I’m only a few episodes into the first season (I haven’t had much time to binge!), but I’m loving the protagonist Pip Fitz-Amobi, the determined teen who decides to investigate a cold case for her school project — I actually suspect Marlitt, my own hyper-fixated, rule-bending detective of The Resemblance and The Professor would have been just like her in high school! Based on the bestselling YA mystery series of the same name by Holly Jackson, Netflix just released the second season.
A monthly dispatch from our household’s most opinionated resident.
Did I want Bowie at the wedding? Yes. Did I want him in a tux. Also yes.
No regrets! He looked so dapper and cute! I only wish we’d put a GoPro on him to see the wedding from his perspective!
This month’s highlight is Patricia Sands and her book, The French Effect. France has a way of changing your mind ... and your heart ... Novelist Nora Bennett is living her fifties with more doubts than dreams. Once content with her quiet life, she’s recently found herself battling writer’s block, a growing restlessness–and resistance to a holiday season she’s long stopped celebrating. So, when her daughter Chloe, an artist living in Paris, asks her to dog-sit an intimidating Doberman named Atticus, Nora surprises them both by saying yes. Delicious meals, long walks through the storied streets of Montmartre, and a chance to rediscover a spark of joy in the glittering holiday lights of Paris: Six weeks in the City of Light might be just the escape Nora needs. Except Paris has other plans. Nora agrees to ghostwrite a memoir for 93-year-old Marie-Louise, who reveals haunting memories of surviving the Occupation as a child of the Resistance. A charming younger tango partner with secrets of his own introduces Nora to the French art of pleasure. All the while, the city’s irresistible festive spirit envelops her gently. Chloe invites Nora to spend Christmas at her husband Olivier’s centuries-old ancestral farm in Provence. There, Nora is embraced by the warmth of family and treasured traditions. She’s also unexpectedly drawn to Pierre, her son-in-law’s moody and magnetic father. Their connection is undeniable, even as he seems intent on keeping his distance. But when Atticus suddenly goes missing, Pierre joins Nora in searching for him. Soon a winding road trip returning to Paris softens their defenses ... and reveals complicated truths behind their guarded hearts. Yet as Nora’s time in France begins to wind down, she must decide: Return to the comfort of the life she knew – or leap into a bold new chapter she never imagined beyond the pages of her novels.
Sign up for Patricia's monthly (mostly, but not always ...) newsletter. She loves to share giveaways from author friends, news from France, a delicious recipe and lots of great photos.
A few updates from the author life.
A few weeks ago, I went on fellow thriller author and Thriller Thursday contributor, Carter Wilson’s podcast Making it Up and had a blast. Carter and I have known each other since I founded Thriller Thursday, but we rarely get to chat one on one, so the entire experience was a delight. We talked about writing conferences, maintaining the page-turning pace of thrillers, and the brain-wrecking revisions it took to get Indie Darling to where it is today. At the end of our conversation, we made up a dark story starting with a line from Elise Hart Kipness’s Dangerous Play. This is something Carter does every episode, and it was simultaneously fun and intimidating!
The blurbs for Indie Darling are in!
If you haven’t preordered your copy yet, what are you waiting for?
And if you’re curious why I and other authors in your life keep asking (*cough* begging) you to preorder, here’s an article on why preorders are so important for authors.
You’re invited to the book launch party!
I’ll also be traveling to local bookstores near you! (Look out for a fun graphic on this from me soon). Until then, you can find me at:
7/27 The Sun Room in Nashville, TN for the launch party
7/28 Murder by the Book in Houston, TX
8/1 FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock GA
8/3 The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ (virtual)
8/4 Warren County Public Library in Bowling Green, KY
8/6 Sheffield Public Library in Sheffield, AL
8/7 Plenty Bookshop in Cookeville, TN
8/14 Duckbill Bookshop in Old Hickory, TN
8/22 The National Book Festival in Washington, D.C
10/1 The Snail on the Wall Bookshop in Huntsville, AL
10/27 Southern Festival of the Books in Nashville, TN
For more updates and photos of Bowie, follow me on Instagram.
Thank you, as always, for reading and sharing this little corner of the internet.
Until next time,
—Lauren
P.s. Tell me something good you’ve read, watched, or discovered lately.
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