Steph Young's Blog - Posts Tagged "guide-book"
No Plus One – the book – is finally here.
I imagine this is what mother’s probably feel like, but instead of being pregnant for nine months, I, nay we (my writing partner and I) were preggers for about seven years. The conception started in our apartment one day – like they often do. We were bored and just hanging out. Then Jill, who was seemingly feeling nostalgic pulled out an old journal and began reading. After she giggled about five times in a row, I made her read aloud to me. We laughed at how foolish her young self was and at the ridiculous thoughts that ran through her mind, which she so bravely wrote down to be captured for all eternity. After a few passages, I realized that I had eerily similar stories and irrational thoughts in my past as well. I went to go find a particular remembrance in one of my own archives and when I brought it back out to the living room, I read almost the exact same story.
We were astonished at how alike our experiences were and for the rest of the afternoon took turns reading each other our most shameful, and yet entertaining passages. We laughed and laughed and laughed at our younger selves’ misfortunes. After some time we finally became weary of skipping down memory lane and the conversation quickly turned into, “We should write a book!”
That was in 2008, which brings us to today, the day we gave birth to our little baby, No Plus One: What to Do When Life Isn’t a Romantic Comedy. Both of us in the past seven years have experienced more change and heartache than we ever could’ve imagined on that day when we felt so haughty and wise. But those subsequent seven years provided the wisdom and faith we needed to bring this story to life. We would often put the project on the back burner, revisiting it every 6 months or so. We leisurely queried potential book agents with a few bites, but nothing sustaining. Even though life was happening, time was passing and our book remained a fetus, we still believed in the message we wanted to tell the world.
That message was that being single didn’t have to be shameful. As young women we were approaching the age where our feeds were filling up with domestic milestones: engagements, weddings, pregnancies and babies. Meanwhile we would be hanging out at Jill’s studio apartment in downtown Portland on a Friday night eating Oreos dipped in whipped cream and washing it down with a bottle of red wine. Even more, we loved it!
“This dream has always been bigger than a book”
This dream has always been bigger than a book, it is a vision–Single life is nothing to be embarrassed about. Single life is not an incomplete one. It is what you make it – and even if in the long run you want to find a soul mate who reminds you of your dad, in the meantime it’s up to you to make the most of all that single life offers. Selfish indulgence; wine and Oreos for dinner; staying out until 3am just because you can; dating three guys in one week; never getting out of bed on a Sunday. All the benefits singles have are celebration worthy, and Jill and I wanted women everywhere to own it. We wanted women to feel unapologetic with their single lives and to not make excuses for it. Who cares if you work too much? Who cares if you’re terrible at first dates! Being single is a gift where we get to learn who we are, build confidence in our independence and truly live life to the fullest.
No Plus One is available for print and kindle on amazon.com.
We were astonished at how alike our experiences were and for the rest of the afternoon took turns reading each other our most shameful, and yet entertaining passages. We laughed and laughed and laughed at our younger selves’ misfortunes. After some time we finally became weary of skipping down memory lane and the conversation quickly turned into, “We should write a book!”
That was in 2008, which brings us to today, the day we gave birth to our little baby, No Plus One: What to Do When Life Isn’t a Romantic Comedy. Both of us in the past seven years have experienced more change and heartache than we ever could’ve imagined on that day when we felt so haughty and wise. But those subsequent seven years provided the wisdom and faith we needed to bring this story to life. We would often put the project on the back burner, revisiting it every 6 months or so. We leisurely queried potential book agents with a few bites, but nothing sustaining. Even though life was happening, time was passing and our book remained a fetus, we still believed in the message we wanted to tell the world.
That message was that being single didn’t have to be shameful. As young women we were approaching the age where our feeds were filling up with domestic milestones: engagements, weddings, pregnancies and babies. Meanwhile we would be hanging out at Jill’s studio apartment in downtown Portland on a Friday night eating Oreos dipped in whipped cream and washing it down with a bottle of red wine. Even more, we loved it!
“This dream has always been bigger than a book”
This dream has always been bigger than a book, it is a vision–Single life is nothing to be embarrassed about. Single life is not an incomplete one. It is what you make it – and even if in the long run you want to find a soul mate who reminds you of your dad, in the meantime it’s up to you to make the most of all that single life offers. Selfish indulgence; wine and Oreos for dinner; staying out until 3am just because you can; dating three guys in one week; never getting out of bed on a Sunday. All the benefits singles have are celebration worthy, and Jill and I wanted women everywhere to own it. We wanted women to feel unapologetic with their single lives and to not make excuses for it. Who cares if you work too much? Who cares if you’re terrible at first dates! Being single is a gift where we get to learn who we are, build confidence in our independence and truly live life to the fullest.
No Plus One is available for print and kindle on amazon.com.
