My First Newsletter!
Hey there and thank you for checking out my first ever newsletter! As I spend less time on Facebook and more on Instagram (@nikkibarthelmess) and Twitter (@nikkigrey_), I am looking forward to connecting with people through these monthly email blasts. I’ll be sharing news and updates about my books, events (virtual and, when the pandemic ends, in person), interviews and the like, as well as tidbits about my writing process, information on my publishing journey (including how I got a literary agent and book deals), books that I’m reading, and more. I’ll be interacting with readers and eager to receive any feedback on what kinds of things you’d like me to share.
If this interests you, please sign up. All you have to do is give your email address. I don’t even need your name if you, like me, sometimes like to lurk anonymously ha ha.
Artist: Carina GuevaraDesigner: Jessie GangThe first thing I’m happy to share with you is my new website. My amazing husband redid NikkiBarthelmess.com, giving it a beautiful new look and making sure the information readers want about me can be found online. Check it out!
Next up, I’m thrilled to show off the cover for my next book, Everything Within and In Between, which is coming out October 5th, 2021, from HarperTeen/HarperCollins. I was lucky enough to have bookstagrammer Carmen of Tomes And Textiles host the cover reveal. I’ve been a fan of hers for a while and so you can imagine how excited this made me!
Now that the cover has been revealed, I can share how much I LOVE this book cover! Designer Jessie Gang and artist Carina Guevara knocked it out of the park. The bright colors and energetic look accomplish exactly the kind of feel I want to grab readers’ attention for this story that has so much of my heart in it.
Here’s the synopsis for the book:
For Ri Fernández’s entire life, she’s been told, “We live in America and we speak English.” Raised by her strict Mexican grandma, Ri has never been allowed to learn Spanish. What’s more, her grandma has always pushed Ri away from the neighborhood they call home and toward her best friend’s world of mansions and country clubs in the hopes that it’ll bring Ri closer to achieving the “American Dream.”
In her most private thoughts, Ri has always believed that her mother, who disappeared when she was young, would accept her exactly how she is. So when Ri finds a secret unanswered letter from her mom begging for a visit, she decides to reclaim what Grandma kept from her: a heritage and a mother. But nothing goes as planned. Her mom isn’t who Ri imagined she would be. And Ri’s struggling to navigate the interweaving threads of her mixed heritage. Nobody has any idea of who Ri really is—not even Ri, herself.
Everything Within and In Between is a new, deeply honest story about the bonds between families and defining who you are for yourself from acclaimed author Nikki Barthelmess.
If you’re interested, you can preorder Everything Within and In Between here.
My goal is to send out a newsletter once a month, so please sign up to make sure you don’t miss out! Until next time, if you want to hear me talk about maintaining a writing practice during difficult times, listen to my conversation with Laekan Zea Kemp on the Author Pep Talks podcast here; or, if you want to listen to me talk with authors Claribel Ortega and Kat Cho about my journey of becoming an author, check out my interview on the Write or Die podcast here.
Until next time,
Nikki Barthelmess
