Home Straight – Approaching the Book Release

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Right then. We’re in the home straight.

If you’d told me back in 2014, standing in the Georgia heat covered in bug spray and surrounded by extremely loud children, that I’d one day be sitting here with a finished book about to drop — I probably would have laughed, tripped over a root, and blamed it on a camper. But here we are. The book is actually happening. And it’s happening soon.

One Month to Go

At the time of recording this episode, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is one month away from being on Amazon. One. Month. That’s not very long at all when you consider the thing has been in the works since 2016, has had approximately four different names, two cover redesigns, and one very long pandemic in the middle of it.

I’ll be honest — I thought I’d feel more prepared than I do. I thought by this point I’d be sitting in a high-backed chair with a cup of tea, smugly admiring a finished product. Instead I’m recording this and mentally listing all the things I still need to do before launch day. It’s fine. It’s totally fine.

What’s Actually Left to Do

Without giving too much away (because that would be telling), the final stretch of any creative project is basically a long game of whack-a-mole. You fix one thing and three more pop up. I’ve been going back and forth over cover details, making sure the formatting looks right across ebook, paperback and hardback, and doing all the boring admin that nobody ever tells you about when you decide to become an author.

The audiobook is also in the works, although if you’re holding your breath for that one at launch, don’t. We’ll get there. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither, it turns out, is a narrated version of a summer camp memoir.

Why I’m Taking a Short Break from Episodes

I need to go heads-down on this. The podcast isn’t going anywhere permanently — I just need to stop talking about the book and actually finish getting it out the door. If you’ve ever had a massive deadline coming up and someone keeps asking you to do other things, you’ll understand the vibe.

So for the next few weeks, it’s going to go a bit quiet on the episode front. But when we come back, it’ll be with something worth shouting about. Namely: the book is out. Which, if you haven’t gathered by now, is kind of a big deal to me.

The Backstory (For Those Who Are New Here)

In case you’re new and wondering what this is all about — There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is a memoir of my time volunteering with Camp America in 2014. I went to Camp Honeystone in Georgia as an Outdoor Living Specialist, which is a fancy way of saying I ran campfires, led hikes, and spent three months being absolutely bossed around by eight-year-olds who knew far more about American pop culture than I ever will.

The book is the full story. The good bits, the hard bits, the bits that probably shouldn’t be repeated in polite company, and everything in between. It’s been a long time coming and I am incredibly proud of it.

See You on the Other Side

Right. I’m going to stop recording and go and make this thing happen. If you want to know the moment it goes live, follow along on Instagram or sign up to the newsletter. And if you want to get yourself a free preview of the first chapter before you commit to buying it, that’s available over at theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/free-preview.

See you on the other side.

📚 The books that came out of this is now available:

Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America – Second Summer Shenanigans