Clever Girl . . .

Good Wednesday to you, my friends! I have a short snapper of a newsletter for you today, mostly to update you about my upcoming giveaway and share some *news* I’ve been teasing for a bit!

GIVEAWAY UPDATE

Not much longer now, my loves! One of my beautiful newsletter subscribers in Canada or the US (or, if you’re overseas, I will mail it anywhere you choose in Canada or the US) will win a paperback ARC for FOSSIL FEUD, a finished copy of bestie Stephanie Archer’s new book, THE WILD CARD, as well as a splash of fun swag to round out the package. Subscribers are automatically entered, and I’ll announce the winner in this newsletter. Dates, details, and disclaimers will be on my Instagram.

And now, in lieu of just telling you about my fun news, I present . . .

THAT’S A PRETTY GNARLY WAVE, DUDE

A while ago now, Mr. North got paid to attend a medical conference in Hawaii. We immediately made plans to visit the locations where Lost had been filmed on the north shore of Oahu. And while we were there (since we are basic people who enjoy the same experiences as our basic brethren), we thought, why not take a surfing lesson?

It was a breezy February day with two-meter swells, which we were assured were not as big as our eyes were telling us they were. Our instructors packed us into a tired-looking minibus whose seatbelts no longer retracted and drove us to a spot that was popular with the strong, skilled locals. This should have been our first clue that we were about to be in over our heads—literally.

We paddled effortfully out to the lineup and waited our turn to catch a wave. My instructor spotted a likely set, told me to get ready, and gave the back of my board a firm shove. I popped up exactly the way they’d showed us on the hotel lawn. For one glorious second, I was up.

Sitting on his board, Mr. North watched me disappear over the lip of the wave. The thing about being an interracial couple is that no matter how you act toward each other, almost nobody who sees the two of you together assumes that you are, in fact, together. This might be why the surfing instructors felt free to openly conduct the following discussion in front of Mr. North:

Instructor 1: *concerned* That was a pretty gnarly wave for a first-timer, dude.

Instructor 2: *shrugs* She’s a strong swimmer.

I’m not sure what gave him the idea I was a strong swimmer. As we have already established, his powers of observation were not that keen.

Luckily, I’d more or less grown up in freezing-cold outdoor bodies of water like the North Pacific and UBC’s Empire Pool. Even more importantly, I’d played water polo in high school and university. I’d learned not to panic when an opponent pushed my head underwater and held it there, only to release it with a contemptuous shove when the ref called the foul.

This experience came in handy when I tumbled off the board pretty much immediately.

I don’t know how long I was under, but Mr. North watched my empty board bob toward shore long enough to start feeling quite worried.

Meanwhile, underwater, I was looking up at the foamy blue-and-white surface and feeling the wave churn around my slack body while I considered the situation with an inappropriate, almost spiritual level of calm.

I was going to have to bide my time down there for a bit.

The ocean would let me up when it was ready.

I would know when the time came to kick for the surface.

I would have enough breath to get me to that moment.

I would feel the certainty in my body: NOW.

So much of being an author is like that day in Hawaii. Trying to catch a wave and falling; feeling trapped by forces beyond your control; breathlessly waiting for your chance to pop back up again while knowing you’re being swept closer to the rocks with every second that passes.

This moment with FOSSIL FEUD feels just like that moment underwater off the North Shore when I suddenly knew it was time to kick: NOW.

As I’ve said before, the reader response to this book has been beyond my wildest dreams, and it just keeps growing. I’m thrilled beyond belief to share that I’ll be partnering with Tale and Thread, book swag creators extraordinaire, to produce a line of FOSSIL FEUD-themed merch!!!! HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS!!

The Clever Girl T-shirt that Cara wears at the beginning of the book jumps to mind, as do a few other goodies (Ripley’s uncooperative shoelaces…WHAT IF lol). Tale and Thread will be dropping teasers over the next few months, so be sure to give them a follow here. Orders will open on July 10^th, in plenty of time to order before the on-sale date on July 28^th.

Biggest, hugest thanks to everybody who slid into my DM’s asking for merch and everyone who screamed about the Clever Girl logo I tossed onto my Instagram thinking it was just for fun, when really it was the moment before I’d whisper, NOW.

It feels like if I paddle out again, there’ll be a wave with Ripley and James’s names on it waiting for me. It feels like you all will have your hand on my board, ready to give this book a good strong push. What a gnarly wave this author life is, friends.

Hang ten,

Maggie North