There's a conversation going on about it on facebook. Join in! I'd love to hear your thoughts. http://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorKristinHannah?fref=ts
I'm sorry it's been so long since I was here---so long in fact that I had to scramble to find my password! It has been a wild and crazy year for many. In some ways crazy-good and in some ways not so good.
I'll start with the easy stuff. After twenty years in the same house, my husband and I decided to move. We didn't plan this. Honestly, we fell in love with a house we weren't even looking for, and suddenly it was a go. I spent most of the spring packing and throwing away (note to self: don't collect stuff you don't need). My library was the hardest part. I simply didn't have room for all of the glorious books I have read and collected over the years, so I had to find them good homes. :)
And then there was the book. This book. FLY AWAY.
It was a strange journey with this novel from the very start. For the first time in my career, I made the choice to revisit characters I'd created before. In this case, characters you may have met in Firefly Lane, five years ago. The simple truth is that these characters, more than most, stayed with me. I often found myself wondering what had become of them, and so I decided--at last--to find out. Turns out Thomas Wolfe was right. It's not so easy to go home again, or to turn back the clock, or to revisit the people and places of one's past. And so it was the the book that I thought would be easy, turned out to be the most difficult and trickiest of my career.
Why? Because of the characters. I loved them, quite simply, and I know that many of you do, also, and this became a pressure I didn't anticipate. I felt an incredible burden to accomplish what began to seem impossible--a great story that felt fresh and original with characters that made you laugh and cry and think. And it had to stand alone. It had to resonate and make sense and sweep you away even if you've never read Firefly Lane. Yikes. No wonder it was susch a tough year.
But the good news is this--after a long and creatively exhausting journey through words and lands and people, I am really happy with FLY AWAY and I can't wait to share it with you all. I can't wait to hear what you think about what has happened to Tully and Marah and Johnny and Cloud in the past few years.
Again, thanks so much for waiting for me--and for this book. I have gotten thousands of emails and letters asking for it, and I really hope you love it as much as I do. :)
With aloha,
Kristin
Very exciting! I saw Jill tweeted about it already to which I responded. I'll stock up on my tissues now so I can cry at some totally inappropriate times - because we all know that I never cry at sad parts of books. I'll admit that even I cried at the sad part of Firefly Lane though. I'll mark my calendars, but it's already on my wish list!
ReplyDeleteI loved, love, loved Firefly Lane. As a matter of fact, that's how I discovered you and have since read all your books. I can absolutely not wait for "Fly Away" to hit stores, or Nook, or however I decide to read it. I guess, I'm still a little behind the times when it comes to books. I prefer to hold a book, love it, smell it, carry it with me....it's just not the same experience reading a book on an electronic device. Anyway, I love the cover...it's very serene, romantic, peaceful....will be counting the days until I can read it. I'm glad you survived what sounds like a very stressful year, and thank you for making the time to write this book for us.
ReplyDeleteOMG! A blog post finally! I am so happy to hear that you have finally written this book, Kristin. I think I have been waiting to hear this news for years.. :) I will be pre-ordering it, that is for sure.. Although it will be really hard to wait for it to get here. I am SO pumped that you wrote this! YAY!
ReplyDeleteDo you know yet if you will be coming back to my area for your book tour or is it too early to know? I hope so. I have loved meeting you at Quail Ridge Books for the last 2 years. :)
WooHoo!!
Linda in Raleigh, NC
Oops! I forgot to congratulate you and your husband on your new home! What was so special about this home that made the 2 of you have to have it? Moving is really exhausting on all fronts. Better woman than me!
ReplyDeleteKristin, you are an extraordinary storyteller. You have such an incredible gift of making the characters so relatable and personal to us that we either feel we ARE them, or feel they are people in our lives. I don't have any doubt this new journey will be a classic KH masterpiece. One that evokes all emotions, is thought provoking, and, will stay with us always, for the very simple reson: YOU wrote it. You put your own heart into it, listened to the characters voices, and kept the fans in mind too, I'm sure. I'm thrilled to hear you've gone back in their past...to show us their future. I now before I read the firt line, which probably includes an amazing quote, that I'm going to absolutely love it! Thanks in advance, it's awesome and you ROCK!
ReplyDeleteFirefly Lane is my absolute favorite book ever! This news makes me SO happy to get to revisit these characters that I <3 so much! Super excited to read it, thank you Kristin!!!
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