T Minus 29 days

The last time I had a novel out, it was 2008.  Since that time, I've gotten married, moved out to the suburbs, and had two kids.  So, you could say I've been busy.  But since that time, the publishing landscape has changed-- bookstores are disappearing before our eyes, book reviews are practically a thing of the past, and anyone can publish a book by simply clicking a few times over on Amazon.

Through all of this, I continued to write.  And my agent sold my third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, to St. Martin's in a two book deal, while I was in the hospital with my second son.  To say I was excited is an understatement.

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE is about three generations of women with a culture all their own.  When Hannah finds herself spending the summer with her glamorous grandmother, a widow six times over, at her sprawling beach-front Hamptons estate, she learns that there’s more than one recipe for happiness.  

A story of mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE is a quirky story about correcting the mistakes from your past and trying to create a future for yourself. 

It's a book that was inspired by my own grandmothers, and very much informed by my own journey into motherhood.  It's deeply personal, and I think it says quite a lot about where I am in my life right now.

When you sell a book to a large publishing house, it takes about 18 months for the book to be on shelves.  Since my book screams "summer"-- the setting, the gorgeous cover-- the pub date was important, so it will actually be a full two years from the time I got my deal until the book hits shelves.

And we are now at T Minus 29 days.  29 days until my baby (my third baby in every sense of that expression) sees the light of day.  29 days until I put myself out there, completely bare, for all the world to judge.  29 days until I find out if anyone likes the book-- if it means as much to anyone out there as it does to me.

It's my third time having a book published, but every time it's the same: you're scared, you're excited, you're thanking your lucky stars that you even got a book deal and you can feel all of these conflicting emotions all at once.

So, for the next 29 days it's just that: I'll feel scared, I'll feel excited, but most of all, I'll just feel lucky.

I’m the author of SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST. My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, will be published by St. Martin's on July 2, 2013. My work’s also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find me at brendajanowitz.com or on Twitter at @BrendaJanowitz.