All posts by Sonja Hakala

I have been a professional writer since 1987. I've written for newspapers, magazines, worked in the book publishing industry, and published novels and non-fiction books. In addition, I've guided numerous authors through the process of independent publishing, and offer workshops in that same vein. I'm the founder of the Parkinson's Comfort Project and over the course of six years, we gathered and gave away over 500 handmade quilts to people with Parkinson's disease.
Carding Chronicles

The Crow Has Arrived

STITCHING TOGETHER A WRITER’S LIFE

The second Carding, Vermont novel—Thieves of Fire—is getting ready to launch and we received a first look at the quilt that Nancy Graham is making for its cover this morning.

Nancy's crow 2
Draft image for Thieves of Fire © 2014 Nancy Graham

No matter how much you write, no matter how many books you publish, seeing the cover image for the first time guarantees you a jolt of adrenaline.

Yep, we’re excited.

The text, which kinda counts too, is in the ripping-apart-to-put-it-all-together-again stage. For a new writer, this can be a very scary time because it feels as though all your hard work is just disappearing beneath your fingertips.

And I have to admit that I get the flutters at this stage as well.

But I’ve learned that it takes making a really big mess before a project all comes together.

Welcome to chaos.