Eat the Whole World Up
Eileen Reflects on Her Debut Launch
When I was a child, if I were jealous of something another child had, new roller skates, a puppy, a whole pack of Doublemint Gum, my mother had a saying. “Green-Eyed Greedy Guts—Eat the whole world up.”
What does that even mean? Who knows? But back then, it roughly translated to “Be thankful for what you’ve got.”
While sifting through 1,243 emails, I saw the reminder from Sharon Wishnow that it’s my month to write something for the Debutante Ball Substack.
Time. There’s never enough of it.
Sharon is the author of the second book to be published by our Debutante Ball foursome. Her novel, The Pelican Tide, is a well-researched wonderful story about family, relationships, and the fragility of our natural resources.
The next published, Christine Gunderson’s Friends with Secrets, which launched like a rocket after having been an Amazon First Reads, is on my TBR list. And I can’t wait to get my hands on Elizabet Sails, by Kristen Owens, who, by the way, is featured in the Breaking In column in the September/October 2024 edition of Writer's Digest. Elizabeth Sails launches October 8 , and is available for pre-order now.
These three debut novelists have wowed me with their accomplishments.
For someone like me, an RN with a master’s in Spiritual and Pastoral Care who hated the only literature class I ever took because, well, I’m still Waiting for Godot, it would be easy to feel intimidated by all this success.
Age and Understanding
As the oldest member of the group, the only author of memoir/essay collection, the only non-agented, university/small press published, it could be easy to feel jealous of their upbeat podcast appearances, their creative Canva graphics, their thousands of Amazon reviews. Easy to be Green-Eyed Greedy Guts. But these writing companions have not allowed that to happen. They’ve championed my work, shared my successes on their social media pages, and called me friend.
I knew going in that my book, Love in the Archives, would appeal to a niche audience. An essay collection about my daughter’s suicide doesn’t lend itself to your average book club pick. An essay I’d written about the day I took my little dog to be euthanized, though published in JMWW, a popular online journal, was recently rejected for a guest blog post of a suicide survivor support organization when the editor decided it was ‘too sad.”
Sometimes, I’m not a lot of fun at parties.
So rather than worry about how my book is selling, or the number of Amazon reviews it’s garnered, I’ve been happy with messages from readers that the book spoke to them in their grief. Not all who reach out have lost someone to suicide, but most know of someone who has. Many have said they relate to my writing because of their own grief journey, unrelated to suicide.
This is a book of exquisitely beautifully written chapters that work alone and together as vehicles that transport the reader into the author’s world of profound loss, tenderhearted insights, and poignant memories - and yet are graced with the humor that we are allowed to see are part of both mother’s and daughter’s personalities. I strongly recommend this book - with the caveat that your heartstrings may afterwards require extensive recuperation. — Amazon Reviewer 1
In addition to The Debutante Ball, my aptly named critique group, Writer’s Tears, has been a source of inspiration and support. There are four of us, all memoirists, and in a few months, the final of our four books will be published.
None of us, in either of these groups, are fresh-faced twenty-somethings. We’ve all had careers and come late to the writing life.
I have the honor of being the oldest, a treat after having been the youngest of four in my family. If any semblance of wisdom comes with that distinction, it’s that I know how fortunate I’ve been to have made these connections. To learn from and with other writers. To have their friendship and support throughout the writing process. The queries. The rejections. The revisions. The Writer’s Tears. The whole kerfuckle.
After publishing her debut novel, the culmination of years of hard work, Swati Hegde, asks her therapist, “Why does the goal post keep moving? Why can’t I just be happy and grateful about where I’m at?”
Why, indeed? I ask myself. Doesn’t everyone want to write a book? But how many of us actually do it? Still, if you think for a moment that I was being 100% honest about not being envious, think again. I could eat the whole world up. But I won’t. Because thanks to my writer friends and their generous support, I’m not Green-Eyed Greedy Guts.
Now please go read Love in the Archives. And be sure to leave a short review.
Just for the record, Sharon included this reader review. Eileen is entirely too modest about her beautiful writing that is a testament to the human spirit.
Thank you, Eileen :-) Beautifully written with all your usual grace and wisdom :-) I once had the pleasure of sitting next to Beverly Jenkins at a romance writers retreat and we talked about this. I was well into my ten year career as a multi-rejected UN-published author and admitted to feeling jealous of the success other people had.
She reminded me that "No one has a right to someone else's blessings." In order words, my blessings and someone else's blessings won't look the same and won't come in the same package or at the same time. And I'm not supposed to have something the universe has earmarked for someone else.
I still think about that all the time, when I'm tempted to compare myself to someone who has "more" of whatever it is I think I need. But like the Stones said, we can't always get what we want, but we get what we need :-)
Love your post, Eileen! Who cares about Waiting for Godot? 😁