Publishing Update: The Order of Us is here!

I'm still in shock. How did this happen?

As most of you know, I'm a part of the admin team over at Moms Who Write. They are my tribe, my family, my writing inspiration. I'm so lucky to have found them along my writing journey.

For the last 6-months we have been working tirelessly to put out our first publication. Months of reading submissions, deciding on a title, a cover, a theme, editing, formatting– everything. Every detail right down to “What little design should we put under the section names?!”

Now, the result of all our hard work is finally here– and it's spectacular.

The Order of Us by Moms Who Write questions the natural order of life, the one we were told to follow as little girls. The one that coralled us into the pattern of going to school and dreaming big and graduating and going to college and getting married and having kids– in that order–all to achieve happiness and fulfillment.

But life is not that simple. Our lives do not always follow an order that feels natural and perfect. Typically this makes us feel like failures, adults who haven't figured it out. Mothers who can't cut it. Women who aren't living up to their potential. No...we refuse to accept these labels.

The Order of Us is about embracing the beauty of chaos, reclaiming our lives, and redefining the societal order in a way that supports women, wives, mothers, and humans, rather than cutting us down. This anthology explore the lives of women around the world, illustrating their struggles and triumphs through poetry, narratvies, and essays of their life adventures.

Making a book is a lot harder than I thought. I’ve learned so much throughout this process. I’m incredibly thankful to our group for including me in this amazing passion project. A special thank you to Allie Gravitt for dragging us through every step of the way so that when it’s time to produce our own books, we know exactly what to do.

This is NOT the book I expected to be revealing after one year of starting my creative writing journey. But it’s better than I could have ever imagined. I am honored to have my name among so many brilliant, talented, and inspiring women. WE DID IT!!!

This is only the beginning. Our group has so much more in the works. Purchase The Order of Us here or where most books are sold. 100% of the proceeds will go to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to help put more books into the hands of our children.

Keep dreaming dreamers.