Tag: i love your work

Out Now: “The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales”

I’m happy to announce that The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

the crow's gift and other tales by sonora taylor
Cover Art by Doug Puller

The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales features four stories of connections and their consequences. It includes “The Crow’s Gift,” “I Love Your Work,” “I Never Knew Your Name,” and “All the Pieces Coming Together” (note — you can still read “All the Pieces Coming Together” for free on the blog).

The collection came together with a lot of help. It features gorgeous artwork from Doug Puller, who drew the cover, title page illustration, and page breaks. The stories were also edited by Evelyn Duffy, who did an excellent job to help complete the stories with her edits, notes, and work. I thank them both for their amazing work.

I’m very excited to share this collection with you. You can purchase the collection on Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (Nook). I hope you enjoy it, and I also hope you’ll leave a review once you’ve finished it. Thank you all for reading!

The Crow’s Gift: Table of Contents

Today is a busy day, both with writing and my day job. It’s been a busy several days, but with the writing at least, it’s the sort of busy that brings me joy.

The weekend was especially productive. I got All the Pieces Coming Together from my editor, and spent most of Sunday revising it based on her notes. On that note, if you are a newer writer like me, I must emphasize how important it is to have an editor — a professional one, not simply someone who proofreads or beta-reads. I’ve had two stories edited thus far, and both have been improved by that step — not just in grammar and style, but in bringing to the surface deeper meanings and themes that I couldn’t find on my own. Even though we write in solitude, at the end of the day, it’s a team effort between writer and reader.

Because of those busy hours, I have less to share today than on Tuesdays past. In lieu of a longer post, I’d like to share the current table of contents for The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales. Three of the stories will go to my editor this week, including I Never Knew Your Name, so it may look quite different once it appears in the collection. I’m excited to see where it goes, and the same goes for the other pieces waiting to make the journey from my own computer. I will keep all of you posted on the progress of the collection over the coming weeks — including its cover.

The Crow’s Gift, and Other Tales

  1. The Crow’s Gift
  2. I Love Your Work
  3. The Campus Coffee Shop
  4. All the Pieces Coming Together
  5. I Never Knew Your Name

Upcoming Project: I Love Your Work

One of the many blessings I count in my life is getting to meet several of my heroes. My godmother and I used to spend every spring break in New York City, and we’d see Broadway shows, then wait outside to meet the cast. I got to meet several of my idols this way, including Will Ferrell and my longtime celebrity crush, Topher Grace. I’ve also been able to attend several book signings in the area, signings where I’ve met Bernadette Peters, Moby, Patton Oswalt, and Toni Morrison. I’ve been grateful not just for the sheer excitement of meeting them, but because I’ve been able to tell them in person how much I love their work.

While I’ve been very lucky to meet these people, I have not met all of my heroes. This is admittedly not possible, but in some instances, it seems as if a meeting them is specifically not in the cards. They’ll come to the area, they’ll be at a signing, they’ll visit my former school, but for whatever reason — travels, event cancellation, a lack of funds — I am unable to go. One day last year, when I noticed that one of my heroes was once again coming to town while I would be away, I laughed to myself and wondered if fate was intervening to make sure we didn’t meet.

The laughter dissipated, but the idea did not. I removed myself from it and began to formulate a fictional story in its place. What if someone wanted to meet her hero, yet kept missing him because that meeting wouldn’t be what she hoped? What would happen to her if she tried her damndest to defy that fate?

Those questions formed my third short story completed last year, currently titled I Love Your Work. The story follows a young woman named Ann, an avid bookworm whose favorite author, Samuel Miller, has written many words which have touched her. However, she’s never heard him speak those words, as she’s never been able to meet him in person. She’s presented with another chance when he comes to a local bookstore for a signing. I Love Your Work details her attempt to make it to the signing, even when it seems everything is working against her arrival. Ultimately, it’s a battle between Ann and fate — though the victor may be neither.

Like All the Pieces Coming Together, this story will be part of The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales. Right now, I plan to include five pieces in the collection, one of which I shared last week (though the version shared may change by the time I add it to the collection). The fifth and, as of this writing, final piece will be detailed in the coming weeks.