Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of a front row seat as long-time Spellbound customer Joanne O’Sullivan made the journey from submitting a manuscript to celebrating the publication of her debut young adult novel. We’ve had a lot of conversations about the joys and frustrations of the whole process.
A few years ago we were chatting outside a local radio station, where her son Finn had just reviewed a book for Spellbound’s weekly kidlit radio spot, when Joanne told me that she had a manuscript ready to submit and was really nervous about it. Months later, Joanne’s daughter Maeve was attending a poetry workshop for teens at the bookstore when I heard the fabulous news that her book had been bought by Candlewick Press. And all along the way we’ve chatted about the learning curve for a first-time author, from getting used to waiting (a lot) to pulling together an author platform to market yourself and your book. But all the work—and all the waiting—have paid off, and now Joanne’s debut novel Between Two Skies hits the shelves this week.
Not only that, it’s hitting those shelves with a resounding bang thanks to starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist and designation as an Okra Pick by SIBA, our regional booksellers association. Oh, and it’s also a Junior Library Guild selection, which I know from my school librarian customers is not only a big honor, it’s also a huge influencer on library sales.
Between Two Skies is the story of a 16-year-old girl living with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Not just the physical aftermath, but the emotional and even sociopolitical aftermath of the storm. The sense of place is captured beautifully. Joanne lived in New Orleans for several years and returns to the area frequently.
Since moving to Asheville, Joanne has been an important part of the local book scene as a journalist covering the literary beat. I asked her recently about whether her work covering authors and book events for the newspaper prepared her in any way for her experience as a debut author. Read more here.