What a beautiful, eventful week it has been. Woke up this morning to a wonderful feature article in my local paper: I’ve always dreamed of this. Have received emails and phone calls and pats on the back today. My community has been so wonderfully supportive.

My mind was BLOWN by Maura Lynch’s generous review of Echolocation. Thank you, Maura! Here’s a quote from it:

“What we will do to preserve family, or sometimes destroy it, has mesmerized us since the beginning.  Myfanwy Collins’s ECHOLOCATION is a new classic literary crime thriller, beautifully written, seamlessly plotted, and heart-wrenching.”

I was also blown away by this terrific review from Kevin Fanning. Thank you, Kevin! Here’s a quote:

Saying much more would give too much away, but it’s not a book that hands things over tidily. It is true to life and true to its characters. Families can be messy and complicated because lives are messy and complicated, and this book doesn’t sugarcoat it or pat it down. It really stuck with me, I was chewing over the ending for the rest of the day, so “haunting” seems like the right word for it. Loved it.

I love the largehearted boy blog because it focuses on two things I love: music and the written word. Naturally, then, I was thrilled when David asked me to write a playlist for Echolocation. I loved doing it.

Dawn, over at the great book blog She is Too Fond of Books, was gracious enough to offer me a guest post. I wrote Pen Pals: Social Media Retrospective.

Last week I was at AWP in Chicago. My editor and publisher, Victoria Barrett, summed up the experience beautifully on the Engine Books Blog.

In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined the wonderful support Echolocation has received on its coming out. I wrote a bit about it here.

Last week was Newtonville and Chicago; next week is New York and Newburyport. So excited!

I just made myself a cup of green tea. The tag on the tea bag string said: “Live in your strength.” But right now I am overcome with emotion and do not feel very strong. It’s not that I think being emotional is weak; I do not. In fact, I believe being emotional is all strength and necessary. It is that I am allowing myself to fall into the arms of all of you who are standing beside me, holding me up. I am allowing myself to hear your kind and supportive words and allowing myself to accept those words as truth.

I have been superficially strong and now I’m letting that guard down and saying “yes” to you. I am saying thank you to you. I am letting my gratitude flow outward and upward and onward. I hope that you feel it.

Let me back up a minute.

Today, March 6th, is the official launch day for my debut novel, Echolocation.

I know it might feel to some that this book is already out in the world (and, indeed, it is), but this is the day that is its publication date. This day. Three days after my mother’s birthday. She would have been 80, though she would have lied shamelessly about it and told you she was 60.

It is significant to me, then, that my book is a Pisces. Pisces are kind and nurturing. Pisces have big hearts.

It is also significant to me that this book is being published by Victoria Barrett at Engine Books. She is someone I have long admired. She is strong and independent and loyal and absolutely kind. No matter what happens from here on out, I will consider her not just my publisher and editor, but also my friend. It is significant to me that my agent, Penn Whaling, has stood beside me for years without ever making a cent on my work and yet she still kept believing in me. I value her integrity and her loyalty and her belief in me. I will be forever loyal to her.

It is significant to me that I have my dear friends by my side, cheering me on and reminding me that they always knew this day would come.

It is beyond significant to me that I have my husband and my son and my extended family by my side. I cannot live without them.

I’m having a hard time expressing exactly how I feel at this moment, and so instead I will tell you a story. A few days ago, I returned from the AWP (Association of writers and writing programs) conference in Chicago. While I was there, I spent time at the Engine Books table signing books and talking to people. Just before my final signing, I went out to lunch with some friends. One of those friends was Kim Chinquee, who is not only a talented writer but a wonderful human being. As I was talking to her about how I was feeling (which is basically overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude) she was looking at me with such kindness and empathy that I truly felt I would break down right there at the table in the restaurant in front of everyone. And I didn’t care if I did. The emotion coming from her to me was absolutely pure and filled with nothing but kindness and understanding.

That same outpouring of emotion, my friends and family, is what I am feeling from you right now. I feel it from those of you who have read my book. I feel it from those of you who have extended yourself to help get the word out about this book. I feel it from those of you who have encouraged me for years and never let me stop going.

I feel it. I am living in my strength and my strength right now is you.

Thank you.

From all of my years of writing, I’ve steeled myself for negative feedback, for rejection. Imagine my surprise when I find that my book is receiving such positive feedback. Truly, my cup runneth over! This has been an incredible week of reviews and interviews, for which I am ever so grateful.

Today, I woke up to an interview between my friend Matthew Quick and me (at the end of the interview there is an opportunity to win one of two copies of my book).

Earlier in the week,  Michelle Bailat-Jones posted a beautiful review of Echolocation at Necessary Fiction

Over at LitStack, Jennifer M Kaufman posted a wonderful review of Echolocation AND an interview

Last but not least, over at The Quivering PenDavid Abrams posted a review of Echolocation’s book trailer 

Thank you to Matthew, to Michelle and Necessary Fiction, to Jennifer and LitStack, and to David and The Quivering Pen. You are all wonderful and I will never forget your support.

“Echolocation is a perfect little book about reality hitting hard. It’s about necessary roughness and begrudging tenderness, and it swallows one up while reading. I certainly look forward to experiencing more of Myfanwy Collins’ work.” Sara Habein, Glorified Love Letters.

To read the full review, click here.

This short is utterly breathtaking. I had goosebumps over and over as I watched it.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

I’m excited to have work included in Stripped. Here’s the blurb:

“Stripped is a collection with a twist. Yes, the fiction contained herein includes works from some of the best-known names in flash fiction as well as the work of emerging writers, but the bylines have been removed so you can’t tell who wrote what. What’s more, the stories hinge largely on gender roles – but with the authors’ identities stripped from their stories, editor Nicole Monaghan has created a bit of a guessing game. Did a woman, for example, write that piece about ambivalence toward motherhood? Or was it a man? More to the point, does it really matter? Or is there something bigger going on when men and women stretch their minds and imagine what it might be like to be the other? Authors include Meg Tuite, Michelle Reale, Myfanwy Collins, Tara L. Masih, Marc Schuster, Michael Martone, Nathan Alling Long, Curtis Smith, and Randal Brown.”