After graduating from The Tiny Book Course, we had a chance to catch up with Sara Sebastian about her new book, We Call So Many Feelings Love.
Sara, you wrote your book! Congratulations on getting it done. How does it feel to be an author?
Thank you! It feels surreal and satisfying.
Tell everyone about your book. What’s the title? What’s it about? What will readers find inside?
We Call So Many Feelings Love is a book of poetry—a meditation on love and the emotions built against it, or around it: desire, need, and grief. Readers will find poems born from coping with divorce, healing from sexual assault, celebrating life, and longing for a forbidden love made manifest in dreams.
As someone who has found romantic relationships a challenge, I wrote this book for others not to feel alone navigating love.
Was writing a book a lifelong dream of yours? In the past, did you struggle to get it done? If so, what changed for you that allowed you to get it done?
This is the second book I’ve written but the first one I’ve published. I began the manuscript in May 2022, so it took a year and a half to complete. There is a difference in writing a book with hopes of getting a literary agent at the end of the process and writing a book knowing it will be published upon completion. There is a sense of inner validation and trust with self-publishing..
It’s funny that my first published book is a poetry collection because I mostly write creative non-fiction—the genre of my first completed manuscript.
What helped me finish writing was an accountability partner and writing a chapter overview. Each time I’d finish a chapter, I’d highlight it and list the word count. I also had a self-imposed deadline that wasn’t too close nor too distant— finished 26 hours early.
I knew I had done it before, so I could do it again. But this was poetry. And I’d be self-publishing it! The stakes felt higher. Maybe that was motivating.
What was the hardest part about creating this book? And what was the most joyful part of the process?
The beginning is tough because you must keep working consistently to gain momentum, especially if you’re coming from a place of feeling overwhelmed and stuck.
The most joyful part was the days I’d spend 12+ hours working, yet it didn’t feel like 12+ hours. I could even rest and turn my brain off at night.
Every author has a different writing process. What was your writing process for this book?
My process for the first two books I’ve written is similar: About 1.5 years of a slower working rhythm followed by a burst of four to seven weeks of intensive writing.
Writing 30-90 minutes before work and 30-90 minutes after dinner, plus writing on the weekends for larger chunks helped me. So does writing before sunrise.
You decided to go through The Tiny Book Course to create your book. What was your favorite part of the process?
My favorite part was the live co-working sessions. It gave me fuel to keep going. I went to every single one. The Tiny Book Course was an incredible gift. I’m getting emotional wondering what would have happened if I didn’t do it.
Imagine someone out there who dreams of writing a book. Imagine you’re having coffee or tea with this person. What would you say to this person?
Even if you don’t publish it, completing a book is an accomplishment you will most certainly feel good about. Doing so will make it easier to achieve another book or another dream. You’ll think, “If I did this, then I can do that.”
If this is your dream, you have to believe you can do it. Give it energy consistently. Water your seeds. In one of my poems, I end it with: How many opportunities will I miss if I don’t believe I belong in my dreams?
Often, when people work with us, they sometimes catch “Book Fever” and immediately start working on their next book. Did this happen for you?
Yes, I came down with it hard. Only a few months after my book was published, I wrote a book proposal for my new book, Outside Participation. It’s a travel memoir about my 15-month trip around the world. I’m currently traveling, 3 ½ months in.
Once you release a book into the world, it creates a ripple effect and there’s no telling how far that ripple may go. We call this “Book Magic.” It’s the surprising, serendipitous magic that happens once you put your work into the world. Has any Book Magic happened for you?
Yes, lots! I was the featured poet at Literary Arts for Slamlandia just two weeks after my book was released. It was extra special because my book wouldn’t exist without the Slamlandia community. Strangers coming up to me, buying my book, and asking me to sign it was magic.
Another cool thing was having a poem of mine featured in Joseph Fasano’s book, The Magic Words. It was published in March 2024 by TarcherPerigee.
Anything else you’d like to share about yourself, your book, or words of advice for aspiring authors?
Give yourself a self-imposed deadline, regardless of how you’re going to publish. Find an accountability partner. Figure out what motivates you. Is it a certain word count per day? Finishing a chapter by a certain time? Or spending 30 minutes five days a week?
Set timers on your phone. Use binaural beats music to focus. Use silence. Use noise. Make a ritual of drinking tea at the start of each writing session.
Seek beauty every day. Go to open mics, regardless of what genre you write. Read your work aloud, in community. Be inspired by others. Attend local workshops and meet ups. Enjoy the process.
Currently, I write a Substack called News & Letter, teach a bit online, and am working on my newest book, Outside Participation, as I travel the world.
Please let us know where we can find your book.
We Call So Many Feelings Love is sold at Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon, along with online retailers like Bookshop. It’s also available at several libraries—one being a branch where my great-great-grandma was a librarian!
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Thanks for connecting with us, Sara! We loved hearing about your book journey.
Check out the book. Read it. Tell a friend about it. Support independent authors and their work. You can even send Sara a note to say, “Congratulations on becoming an author!”