In 2017, I launched my first fiction book, Brown Girl in the Room. Nine years later, this book continues to peak people’s interests, perhaps even more so given the mindset resurrecting itself in the world today.
A few weeks ago, I read at the Seeds conference hosted by the Draft Reading Series and sold all of the copies of Brown Girl in the Room that I took for the book table, plus I had to mail another one to an interested attendee when I ran out. Last summer, the North Kawartha Public Library bought a few copies for their shelves and the Librarian mentioned they were always checked out.
While I’m happy that people are still interested in the book, I’m conflicted, because the topic that I thought would be a moot point by now, is now more timely than ever. I honestly saw myself looking back on that time when it was published, and say, ‘Look how far we’ve come!’
Yet sadly, that is not true.
The publisher, Tightrope Books closed their doors in 2019, so there are limited copies left but you can find a few at The Book Wardrobe in Mississauga.
My hope is to find another publisher that is interested in adding Brown Girl in the Room to their catalog so we can launch a second edition. Let’s see if that works out.