Falling in Love With My Book at the End of the Process

the weird ways writing and publishing works

I received a package yesterday that I’ve been looking forward to for two years. In 2023, Effie Joe Stock and I started playing with the idea of writing a book together. We wanted to write something unusual and weird. We wanted it to be uncomfortable. When we settled on our idea for Human Scars on Planet Skin, I had a lot of doubts. I didn’t know if I was a good enough writer to be part of this project. I didn’t know if we had what it took to write a book together.

Yesterday, I got to hold that book for the first time.

It always surprises me how light a book is. Years of my life, and it hardly weighs anything. But this book means so much to me…and in many ways I didn’t realize that until yesterday.

I have been very scared of this book ever since I completed the first draft. It has always felt like a book that’s bigger than me. It pushed me to my limits and really helped me grow. I changed my part of it many times, trying to find the perfect balance of cozy and horror. I wanted to disgust my readers, but I also wanted to heal them.

When I sat down with my proof copy, highlighter in hand, I had no idea what to expect. I couldn’t even remember what version made it to the end. I just hoped that I’d read it and love it. I was scared of reading it and wanting to pull the plug.

But this story sucked me in so quickly. I fell in love with my writing, my characters, the lush world, the fact that my story was just half of the book. I read it in a whole new light, and I lost myself in it for the hours that it took to get through it.

This is my favourite thing I’ve ever written. I am now scared of what it means to keep writing, because I don’t know what I’ll do to follow this up. Publishing this book feels like a shift in my publishing life. I am so proud of what I created and I can’t wait to share it with the world. I’m even more confident with this than I was with Moon Soul.

I’m getting better at not being afraid to release books. This one was written for myself, and it accomplished everything I wanted it to. Even if nobody reads it, I’m going to be so insanely proud of it.

I suppose I should do a quick pitch for this book. Human Scars on Planet Skin is about a sentient planet and her inhabitants (who are mushrooms and insects) as they face the destruction in the wake of human colonization. It’s about fighting for your home, building community, coming to terms with who you are, and working through intense change. This book will make you squeamish, hurt you, and heal you…which I think is the perfect combination.

Here are some of the characters:

The book is illustrated, so there’s character art and lots of other art throughout!

Human Scars on Planet Skin releases on September 1st. I hope you’ll give it a chance.