Friday 10 June 2016

You. I. Us. is finally here!

Happy birthday You. I. Us., you gorgeous thing!

It feels like I've been anticipating this day for a long time - in fact, I signed the contract in April 2015!

Writing these stories was a lot of fun, and completely different from the way I usually write. Because of the short length of each one, I curled up for a week - wrapped in a thick cardigan, because it was winter - and just wrote whatever came into my head. Several stories remain unchanged from those initial sessions, others merged together, a couple were thrown away for being rubbish. A few more - for example, Ode to River and Growing Apart - are autobiographical, which was an interesting experiment.

I want to say a huge thank you to Jessica Bell and Dawn Ius from Vine Leaves Press for all their hard work on this book, for the cover art (still so beautiful!) and for rapping my knuckles every time they saw a semi-colon. I have not completely overcome my semi-colon addiction, but I do consider their usage a little more.

Thank you too, to Kyra Lennon, for reading the first draft of the stories and throwing out the weakest links.

Next week, my blog tour starts. I'll be answering a question a day, provided by some awesome bloggers. I hope you can join me!




Publication date: June 10, 2016 Genre: Short Stories (Single Author)

Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Book Depository // Kobo // iBooks // Nook

In You. I. Us., Annalisa Crawford captures everyday people during  poignant defining moments in their lives: An artist puts his heart into his latest sketch, an elderly couple endures scrutiny by a fellow diner, an ex-student attempts to make amends with a girl she bullied at school, a teenager holds vigil at his friend’s hospital bedside, long distance lovers promise complete devotion, a broken-hearted widow stares into the sea from the edge of a cliff where her husband died, a grieving son contacts the only person he can rely on in a moment of crisis, a group of middle-aged friends inspire each other to live remarkable lives.

Day after day, we make the same choices. But after reading You. I. Us., you’ll ask yourself, “What if we didn’t?”


38 comments:

  1. Congratulations Annalisa - that's great and so good to know bloggers have been so instrumental in helping you along the way. Lovely way to write stories ... wrapped up in a thick cardigan, ignoring the winter weather and cold, and just letting your imagination wander off to lots of stories. Good luck and all the best - cheers Hilary

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    1. It was actually a really relaxed way to write - it reminded me why I love short stories so much! Thanks Hilary :-)

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  2. Congrats, Annalisa! It's a gorgeous cover.

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  3. Congratulations! And the cover really is beautiful.

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  4. Congratulations! You know Jessica and Dawn would only do it first class.

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  5. Hooray!! This cover is perfect for your stories. Congratulations and I just know this release will be a smashing success.

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    1. Thank you, Julie. And thanks for reading the ARC and reviewing :-)

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  6. Congrats for this whole journey. I love this cover and can't wait to be on the tour next week. You rock!!

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    1. I'm really looking forward to the tour, thanks Joanne :-)

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  7. Congratulations! I can't wait to read these amazing stories! That cover is amazing!

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  8. Congratulations, Annalisa. What a beautiful book cover. All the best with your tour.

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    1. Thanks Jacqueline - I'm so thrilled with the cover, it looks even better in person ;-)

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  9. Congratulations, Annalisa! I adore that cover :)

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  10. Wow! Your book looks and sounds beautiful! I'm looking forward to reading it.
    Congratulations!!!

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  11. Congratulations, Annalisa. I'm looking forward to you stopping by my blog on your tour. It is a great cover too.

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    1. Looking forward to visiting your blog too, thank you :-)

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  12. It really is such a beautiful cover; it's pulling me in by itself to read those stories! Per your statement above, I just paid homage to the semi colon. I, too, can't wait for your visit to my website at the end of June. Congrats!

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    1. Ah, the semi-colon is a wonderful, deverse and useful device. I'll never be able to give them up completely.

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  13. Congratulations, the cover looks absolutely gorgeous! This is going on my to-read list. Looking forward to it!

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  14. I have mine and it's beautiful!! I can't wait to read it.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth, I'm looking forward to hearing what you think :-)

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  15. Huge congrats... it's such a wonderful feeling:)

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    1. Thanks Tania, each book is special, the excitement of publishing a new one doesn't diminish!

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  16. Congratulations, Annalisa! Wishing you lots of sales.

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  17. The waiting is the hardest part of this. Glad it's over! Congrats.

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    1. It really is, Lee. It's nice to send it on it's way now!

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  18. Congratulations! That is a very poignant cover.

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    1. The cover has a direct reference to one story, but sums up the whole book. I'm so glad I had Jessica Bell designing it, because I wouldn't know where to start.

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