Publication Day

My sixth book releases tomorrow 🤯

The beauty of being a multi-genre author is that every time I publish, it feels like a debut all over again. When my debut memoir, The Girl in the Gold Bikini came out, I sat in awe of myself. All the early morning writing sessions and the steep learning curve for self-publication had finally become an actual book. Seeing that book out in the world moved me from writer to author.

When my first middle grade novel released, I felt legitimated. It was my first traditional publishing deal, the holy grail for every writer. I launched Shift with a party where a panel of 11- and 12-year-olds asked me questions about the book and the writing process. It was so much fun and a great way to hear what my target readers thought of the story.

Katya Noskov’s Last Shot is feeling very different. I am so excited about my debut upmarket fiction for so many reasons. It features women over the age of 50, a demographic that is not sexy in the eyes of traditional publishers. These women are strong, with varied backgrounds and histories. They come together in pursuit of friendship, and we know how hard it is to make friends when you are an adult. Which is why I decided to make one of them, Katya, a retired assassin. I mean, if it’s hard for me to find good friends, imagine what it must be like if you never developed the skill set for that in the first place.

I intended the novel to be a cozy, feel-good story about sisterhood, and judging by the early reviews from the ARC readers, Katya is hitting the mark.

Every time I look at the cover, I find myself smiling. I’ve even flipped through it to read a chapter or two at random—something I’ve not done with any other book I’ve written—just so I can feel the goodness coming off the page. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you this book will be an experience for you.

I’m looking forward to seeing my local friends at the book launch tomorrow at Owl’s Nest Books, 815a 49 Ave SW, Calgary, from 7 to 8:30pm.

xo Dana

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What I’m reading

Since I spent most nights sleepless on the couch last week, I’ve been diving into audiobooks. I listened to Wool, by Hugh Howey, and The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. That’s 26 hours of audio over eight nights, between the hours of midnight to 5 am. I have to admit that I did get put to sleep by the narrators and/or the narrative on more than one occasion. I’ve now got Freda McFadden’s The Locked Door queued up for the next round of middle-of-the-night pain management. Thank goodness for audiobooks; they are a huge improvement over the infomercials and old tv shoe reruns that used to be the only late-night options.