The last time I mentioned The Summer Garden here, back in August, I was still writing it.
A lot has happened since then.
For starters, the book is finished! All twenty-two episodes are written, the story has reached its conclusion, and the ebook is already available for preorder.
You might think that means I can sit back, put my feet up, and congratulate myself on a job well done.
You’d be wrong.
Finishing a book is just the beginning of an entirely different kind of work.
From a Community Garden to a Bookshelf
When I started The Summer Garden, the idea was relatively straightforward. Eight people, ranging widely in age and background, find themselves drawn together by a community garden in Edmonton. They arrive with their own histories, their own problems, and their own reasons for being there.
Over the course of a growing season, they discover that the garden produces considerably more than vegetables.
I originally wrote it as a weekly serial for Substack. Twenty-two episodes, published every Sunday, following the characters from the first tentative days of spring through the end of the growing season.
What I hadn’t fully anticipated was how attached I’d become to these people.
Scotty, Dave, Connie, Evelyn, Arthur, Nora, Lucas, and Maya have spent months occupying a corner of my brain. And even though their first season is finished, they don’t appear particularly interested in leaving.
But that’s a subject for another day.
Right now, I’ve got books to build.
If you’re unfamiliar with The Summer Garden and I’ve made you curious, you can check out Episode One: A Handful of Dirt.
One Story, Three Editions
The ebook was the relatively easy part. It’s already up for preorder, ready for readers who prefer their books delivered electronically.
The paperback is currently in production, and I’m working on making it something more than just a printed copy of the ebook.
One of the features I’m particularly excited about is a collection of black-and-white photographs taken by Maya Patel, one of the eight principal characters. Maya’s a photographer, and her pictures capture moments, people, and places that are important to the story.
We’re incorporating those photographs into the book’s chapter openings, giving readers another way to experience the garden and the people who inhabit it.
And then there’s the Special Edition Hardcover.
Oh, boy.
I Don’t Know When to Stop
Somewhere along the way, I decided that The Summer Garden deserved a special edition.
Not just a hardcover version of the paperback, mind you. An actual collector’s edition, with distinctive design elements and a few touches that make the physical book part of the experience.
We’re talking about foil lettering, custom artwork, and some rather elaborate plans for the edges of the pages.
I’m particularly excited about those edges, but I’m going to keep the details to myself for the moment. Some things are more fun when they’re revealed as a surprise.
Of course, every one of these ideas creates more work. There’s interior layout, artwork preparation, printing specifications, proof copies, and a seemingly endless collection of decisions about things I never imagined I’d have strong opinions about.
And yet, here I am, having strong opinions about them.
It’s possible I’ve lost my mind.
On the other hand, I think the story deserves the effort.
More Than Just a Book
One of the things I love about The Summer Garden is that it isn’t a story about saving the world, defeating an evil mastermind, or preventing some terrible catastrophe.
It’s about ordinary people.
People who make mistakes, carry regrets, form unlikely friendships, argue, laugh, fall in love, and occasionally grow tomatoes.
The garden gives them somewhere to come together, but the real story is what happens between them.
I want the physical editions to reflect that. Something warm, personal, and worth keeping. A book that feels like the story inside it.
Whether I can pull off everything I’ve envisioned remains to be seen, but we’re making progress.
The ebook is available for preorder now, and I’ll have more news about the paperback and Special Edition Hardcover as they get closer to completion.
In the meantime, I should probably get back to work.
Writing the book was the easy part.