With my second book, Back to Seagull Street, coming out this week, I can no longer call myself a debut author!

That feels exciting and it also feels a little strange, because publishing a second book is a very different experience from publishing the first.

Book one was written for me. It was the kind of book I wanted and needed to write. It became a time capsule of an extraordinarily strange period. In the summer of 2023, we were emerging from a global pandemic, politics felt increasingly surreal, and things that once seemed unthinkable were happening in plain sight. Rules were bending. Checks and balances were failing. Life was, in a word, crazy. It’s still crazy, of course.

Some readers criticized the first book for being too “woke.” I understand that not every book is for every reader, and I don’t regret writing it the way I did. The main female character is a cybersecurity analyst working in election security, and that should be a clue that the book will have political themes. The events and news woven into the story were real. The world surrounding the characters was deliberately recognizable, and it resonated with so many readers. It’s future historical fiction inspired by the unsettling reality we were all living through, not a version of reality designed to make everyone comfortable.

With book two, I built the story around some familiar, well-loved elements: a second-chance romance, a small-town setting, and a secret millionaire. This isn’t about switching lanes; it’s about continuing the Seagull Street universe while exploring different kinds of stories. With the location already established and many of the characters returning, the new book became shorter, tighter, and more focused, with the story told from two perspectives.

For my first book, I did everything I could think of to give it a strong beginning. There were advance reader copies, PR boxes, events, and a big launch celebration. I loved being able to mark the occasion that way, and I’m grateful to everyone who took part. Those things cost money and I did not get much return from all the books I gave away. A social post here or there, a few reviews. I’m still operating at a deficit, and this time, the goal is sustainability.

I know Seagull Street has a wonderful community of readers, and I want to keep writing stories for them.

I need to sell more books, and I need something wonderfully simple, completely free, and more powerful than most promotional campaigns: book reviews.

Reviews help readers decide to take a chance on an unfamiliar author. They help books become more visible online. They tell booksellers, algorithms, and other readers that a story is finding its audience. Even a rating or a very short review can make a meaningful difference.

Writers know that we cannot please everyone. My family had a heated discussion about Project Hail Mary at a gathering last weekend, which proves that even people who love and respect one another can have wildly different reactions to the same book. What matters is that people read what they like, write honest reviews, and help a book travel beyond the circle its author can reach alone.

I’m no longer a debut author. I’m an author learning how to build a writing life that can last.

If you have read Welcome to Seagull Street, leaving a review would be an enormous help. If you’re planning to read Back to Seagull Street, please consider reviewing that one too. Recommend Seagull Street to a friend, request it from your library, or share it with someone who might feel at home there.

Every purchase, review, and recommendation helps determine whether the story continues.

You can leave a review on Amazon even if you did not purchase the book there, as long as you have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a credit or debit card within the past 12 months. If you use GoodReads, you can also write a review there for both books.

Write a review or leave a rating for “Welcome to Seagull Street” on
Amazon or GoodReads

Write a review or leave a rating for “Back to Seagull Street” on
Amazon or GoodReads

Thanks for your support! “Christmas on Seagull Street” and “Murder on Seagull Street” are both in the works. If you’re clever, you’ll see foreshadowing for the new books in the first two books!