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Friday, May 16, 2008

Every Book is Special



I had an unbelievable ride with Adiós to My Old Life. Seriously, it was total dream come true territory, with the good reviews and the awards and the fantastic fan mail from not simply teen readers, but readers across the board. Which was why I worried, when It's Not About the Accent was released out into the world. Like a second child, it was very different from its elder sibling, although if you looked close, you could still see the family resemblances. But like a lot of younger siblings, it sort of coasted under the radar. It's also suffered the downside of having had such a distinctive older sister—the inevitable comparisons, whether they're fair or not.

At the same time though, it's also had the end result of making the recognition Accent's received seem all the more sweeter for it. I got my first Publisher's Weekly review and it was good. (Deep sigh of relief.) The reader letters I received for Accent seemed a little more thoughtful and in many cases, far more poignant, due no doubt, to the subject matter the story tackled. And it also made it really special when I came home a few weeks ago to a phone message informing me that Accent had finaled in the Young Adult Category of the Oklahoma RWA Chapter's National Reader's Choice Award. It's special because the finalists are chosen, as the contest's name says, by readers. No writers allowed here, which, when you think about it, is kind of cool. As much as peer recognition is special, so is the recognition that comes from the people you hope are out there buying your book or will recommend it to other readers.

So thank you, Oklahoma RWA, for recognizing my second child and seeing that she's in her own way, as special as the first. See y'all in San Francisco!

8 comments:

Jennifer Echols said...

Oooh, congrats on the final, and good luck! It's a wonderful book.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, you! That's wonderful, congratulations.

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Congrats, Barb!! See you in SF!

Tarot By Arwen said...

Barb, you are a great writer who has such a gift for giving fascinating characters voice. I look forward to more from you. Now get back to work! :)

Jennifer Dunne said...

Congrats on the finalist, and here's hoping you win!

If you want a bit of light-hearted humor about the situation of second books, http://pbray.livejournal.com/138036.html is a blog post from the point of view of a second book. Funny, but true. :-)

Little Willow said...

Congrats! Well-deserved! :)

Stephanie Kuehnert said...

Congrats, Barb! And love the second child comparisons. It makes so much sense!

Barbara Caridad Ferrer said...

Thanks so much, guys! It's super appreciated.

And Arwen, you know I"m giving you just a gigantic, big squishy hug when I see you, right? And I'm going back to work, I promise!

Jennifer, that blog post is HYSTERICAL. And oh, so true! Thanks for sharing. :-)