The Book Trailer!

Teddy is turning one this week. And while I’ve learned countless things this year about motherhood, babies, childcare, and myself, there is one accrued piece of knowledge that looms largest: writing is a complete and total luxury.

I don’t remember when exactly, but at some point while I was getting my MFA in creative writing, one of my professors—who incidentally also has a book coming out any day now—gave me a piece of advice that stuck with me. She told me to try and establish my writing career before I had kids. I’m not sure how this came up in conversation, though perhaps it was because Matt and I had recently gotten married. It seemed like good enough advice at the time, but now I feel like I really get it. I mean, if you are a regular reader of the blog, you’ve probably noticed that a majority of posts this past year are essentially about, or rather, asking, the same thing: will I ever be able to have the time and emotional space to write another book?

While I know that the answer to this question is yes, I’m keenly aware that I still don’t know when.

That being said, I’m writing this to you from my old spot on the couch—where I used to write pre-Teddy. I’m able to do this now because he’s at daycare, which he started on Monday.

Last Sunday, before his first day, I felt this disorienting mixture of anxiety and melancholy. And when I called my mom to talk about it, and she told me that I’d given him “a great first year,” tears started streaming down my face.

When I hung up with her, I began a version of sobbing that included loud gasps for breath.

Fast forward to now, three days later: I just got a picture text of Teddy intently observing two other boys building some sort of fort, and I’m sitting here thinking, I love daycare! Three cheers for daycare!

I’m mentioning all of this now I guess as a sort of preamble to what I’m about to say/ask of you: In the six years of Bon Appétempt’s existence, I’ve worked to keep the site as much of a pure, creative project and space as possible. I’ve shied away from advertising, from giveaways, from endorsing products (or from even mentioning a product I don’t wholeheartedly believe in).

But the thing is, after six years, I now have a product to sell. And I know that, simply put, the better my book does sales-wise, the better my chance is of being able to do this all over again, which, is of course all a writer wants.

So, over the years if you’ve ever enjoyed something from Bon Appétempt—if you’ve ever cooked from one of the recipes or appreciated reading about one of my non-recipe-based struggles or wondered how Matt can take such lovely photos and always be the first commenter; if you’ve ever laughed at one of the instances I’ve recreated a music video or felt very confused when I shouted at you from the depths of the Tip Pit, here’s what I’m asking of you:

Please support Bon Appétempt by pre-ordering my book (release date is Feb. 3rd). Here is the link to Amazon, but you can also call and order a signed copy from my local bookstore, Skylight Books, where I’ll be discussing the book on Feb. 3rd at 7:30pm—please come to this!

If you’ve already ordered it, thank you so incredibly much.

But perhaps you’re holding out for the audio version (which becomes available to download on the release date) or perhaps you’ve ordered the book already but would like to do more? In that case, please help us spread the word about the book. For example, if you like the above trailer, please send it to some of your friends. Maybe say something like this in the body of your email: “I didn’t realize book trailers were even a thing, but this one makes me totally want to read the book!”

(Just an idea.)

OK, that’s enough salesmanship for one day. Tune in over the next couple of weeks for a number of videos and posts we’ve been working on to help raise awareness about the book: from a parody infomercial to a video on how to make Korean-style shrimp and scallion pancakes (an original recipe from the book).

Until then and with a million thank-yous,
Amelia