What Comes Next Book Tour

WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR OF

 What Comes Next

by Caitlin Forbes

  

Book Summary

An empowering and heartfelt novel about the complexities of family, the power of sisterhood, and the bravery it takes to choose happiness when all seems lost.

“My life is perfectly fine.”

Alex has pretended this for years―despite an emotionally absent father, a best friend drifting away, and a floundering dog-training business. At least Alex has her sister, Meredith, a driven polar opposite. But both their lives are upended when their estranged mother dies of a genetic condition that the sisters have a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting. For Alex, a world without her mother is uncomfortable. But a world without Meredith is unthinkable.

Alex suggests a pact to which Meredith tentatively agrees: In three months they’ll get tested. Until then they go after everything they’ve ever wanted. Alex is finally stepping out of her comfort zone and opening herself up to new relationships. Or maybe reconnecting with an old one. Nathan, a boy who once broke her heart, needs a trainer for his mixed-breed rescue. Alex can’t resist.

As sparks rekindle, and time passes much too quickly, Alex discovers more about herself, her sister, and her mother than she ever imagined. And that everything in life―especially happiness―comes with a risk worth taking.

 

Publisher:  Lake Union Publishing

ISBN-10: 1662528116

ISBN-13: 978-1662528118

ASIN: B0DZY6Q16W

Print length: 317 pages

 

Purchase a copy of What Comes Next on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add it to your GoodReads list.

 

Guest Post

The importance of fiction, particularly book club fiction, in this crazy time

This is maybe a big statement but… I really believe that we’ve never been more in need of book clubs than we are right now.

Every time I go on social media, my heart breaks a little—for countless complicated reasons, but also for one very simple one: the deep and obvious disconnects between people. Disconnects that go beyond politics and feel, instead, deeply personal. It’s all over the media and polls and research: how the US is at a point of deep polarization—and it’s not just us. This disconnect is global. And so, over and over again, I find myself lying awake at night, asking: how do we come back from this? Even if we get past this horrible moment, how do we find a way to trust each other again?

And I won’t be so callous or simplistic as to say: books will solve everything. But I do think books are part of the solution, first, because fiction, by nature, engenders empathy. Novels help us understand different viewpoints: we get in someone else’s head and we see their motivations… .and even if we don’t agree with their choices, we can at least start to understand how they got there. We can see how their experiences differ from our own, and therefore, accept that their actions and choices will as well. We get to suspend judgement, and sit in their world instead of ours.

I saw this so much from early readers of What Comes Next. Readers who tried to put themselves in Alex’s shoes, who maybe didn’t agree with all her choices, but also didn’t judge her for them. Who came to understood how she got there and how they might end up there themselves. That’s empathy.

Equally important, I think, is that books help us understand ourselves. I really believe that negative reinforcement, particularly shame and blame, bring out the worst in most of us. It’s hard to be kind when you’re feeling like crap about yourself. But my favorite novels have always helped me grow—they’ve helped me feel like my crappy emotions don’t mean I’m crappy; and my struggles aren’t shallow, but instead part of a shared experience. Which makes novels—particularly accessible novels like book club fiction—an antidote to shame. They help us remember the good in ourselves, and in turn, find it in others as well.

Empathy and grace: I have to believe these are going to be pretty essential building blocks for the road ahead.

 

 

About the Author

Caitlin Forbes is a Maine-based author who writes stories that explore the messiness of relationships—from sisterhood to romance to the tricky relationship we have with ourselves. When not writing, you can find her chasing after her toddler (or her dog) and exploring small-town New England life. 

 

You can follow the author at: 

https://www.caitlinforbesauthor.com/

https://www.instagram.com/caitlin_forbes_author/

 

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