I was in the middle of promoting and marketing my first novel, Woven, published in November of 2020. It was January, darkest winter, in the middle of the pandemic quarantine and we had no where to go and no one to see and nothing to do. So I was hard at networking to sell my first novel. I was on every social media site I could find, a brand new indie author, isolated and trying to find my way in the dark to get my novel out into the world.
And it was on a writer group on Facebook on a random day that a member posted a Word of the Day. To be clear, that was not a thing people did on this group, post Word of the Day. I’ve often heard the saying, “Things happen for a reason,” and while I am truly not sure what I believe about things like that, it seems like kismet to me. Because the word literally gobsmacked me, brought me out of the driven and madly focused goal I spent all my waking hours working towards.
Sonder.
“Sonder n. The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk. from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows“
To a world-class (by my own definition) people-watcher, this was earth shattering. To someone who needs story the way some people need food, this was manna from heaven. And to a writer who never thought she would publish a novel for real, who certainly never thought there might be a second novel, this was a rent in the fabric of the universe.
That very day, Sonder: Janie’s Story was born.
Janie herself is every girl born to a working class family in New York City during a dark period of the city’s history. Every anonymous girl the city ignored, who had no one to rely on but herself as the adults around her behaved badly.
Yes, everyone has a story, a “life as vivid and complex as your own,” and she came banging at my closed door that day demanding my attention. This is Janie’s story.
Reviewers say:
“This was a thoughtfully written book with a message for all. The layers of stories in this novel were not only enjoyable and thought-provoking to read, but shifted the way I see the people in my periphery as I walk through life.”
“Once I started, I did not want to put it down. From the main character’s traumatizing opening scene, to her new beginning later on in life and everything in between…just brilliant. This book made me want to listen/learn more and judge less. It brought back memories, it made me cringe, it made me sad, it made me laugh…just all kinds of emotions. We all have a story and I thank the author for sharing Janie’s story.”
“The structure of the book definitely gave a sense of sonder and life being one large chapter, only interrupted by the stories of others or major life changes of your own.”
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“The structure of the book definitely gave a sense of sonder and life being one large chapter, only interrupted by the stories of others or major life changes of your own.”