Mother Road has a release date - May 31! You can preorder the ebook now and the paperback will be available on the day of release.
Just as a reminder, this book does deal with anxiety, grief over the death of a parent and limited mobility due to a car accident. I have worked hard to represent these issues as best I can, however, if you believe something is misrepresented, please reach out to me. This is another reason why I self-publish—I want to learn from my mistakes, but I also want to remedy them as quickly as possible.
Regarding both the anxiety and limited mobility (an injured leg)— there was an issue in Romancelandia a few months ago with an author writing a disabled character and using ableist language, and it really brought the importance of correct vocabulary to light. There is a difference between a character describing themselves with degrading language, if it is part of their character, and the narrative voice using degrading language. While Nico is frustrated with his physical injury, I made sure to use respectful language. Again, please let me know if I have said anything incorrectly, and I will fix it and learn from it.
As for Nico’s anxiety, he is ashamed of it. As we all know, anxiety is not a shameful thing. I have dealt with it for twenty years, and while it is frustrating and exhausting, and it makes me feel shameful, the condition in itself is not a shameful thing. Learning to both accept and cope with his anxiety is part of Nico’s journey, and I hope that those of you who have anxiety, or feel that you may but aren’t sure, come away with the sense that anxiety is part of who you are, and that’s okay.
To paraphrase Eli—”Realize you are a damn miracle that just needs some creative solutions.” Love, Bree