Call Me Maybe is here!

Some of my earliest memories are of people I love reading a book out loud to me. These were my first thoughts when I contemplated writing an audio-only book for Audible. Usually, as a writer, writing is inextricable from the page, and writing a book that would only be listenable was intriguing, stymying… and a little scary. 

But then I remembered what it felt like to be read to in classrooms and before bedtime. I thought about podcasts and NPR and those moments when my husband is so full-body gobsmacked by something he’s just read that he HAS to read it out loud to me. I thought about stories a kid makes up at the dinner table. I thought about my own mom’s tried-and-true anecdotes, the ones that she’s told so many times that hearing her tell them becomes a part of that story. 

Stories out loud make the characters come along with you, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Because you can go about your daily life while listening along, these characters become your companions. Stories told out loud are company. 

I finished writing this book at the beginning of quarantine. And to me, company has never meant more than it does right now. These characters made me smile each morning when I had to block the world out and write. Cal and Vera are looking for connection and finding it with one another. Cal and Vera are kind to one another. 

I think at the heart of all my stories there are good people trying their best. And that’s what I wanted to give to the reader (listener) at this particular moment in history. I wanted to bring light and levity to your ears (and trust me, writing sound design instructions for a cat certainly brought light and levity into the life of this author). I also want you to feel like you’ve just met new friends. I want the window into their love story to make you smile and swoon, of course, but I also want it to feel like a moment of connection.