This is always a particularly thrilling–and, truth be told, terrifying–step in the process of publishing a book. It’s called ‘First Pass Pages,’ and what it means is this: last chance to hold your raw, rough book in your hands. To mark it up and wrestle with the language and make any edits before…pouf!…the book is out of your trembling hands and off to the printing presses, from where it will make its way into the hands of readers and out into the world at large.
Here I am, sitting at home with a mug of tea and my Strauss playlist, making my final round of revisions on this novel, marking the margins with my blue pen and thinking about this story that has been with me and my brother Owen for so many years, through so many life events.
And now, in less than five months, this book will take on a life of its own.
As I said…thrilling, yes. But not a little bit terrifying.
Excited to learn more about WHERE THE LIGHT FALLS? Great! Because we sure can’t wait to share it with you! Check it out here!
ABOUT WHERE THE LIGHT FALLS
A rich and sweeping novel of courage, duty, sacrifice, and love set during the French Revolution from New York Times bestselling author Allison Pataki and her brother Owen Pataki
Three years after the storming of the Bastille, the streets of Paris are roiling with the spirit of revolution. The citizens of France are enlivened by the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The monarchy of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette has been dismantled—with the help of the guillotine—and a new nation is rising in its place. Jean-Luc, an idealistic young lawyer, moves his wife, Marie, and their infant son from their comfortable life in Marseille to Paris, in the hopes of joining the cause. André, the son of a denounced nobleman, has evaded execution by joining the new French army. And Sophie, a beautiful, young aristocratic widow embarks on her own fight for independence against her powerful, vindictive uncle.
As chaos threatens to undo the progress of the Revolution and the demand for justice breeds instability and paranoia, the lives of these compatriots become inextricably linked. Jean-Luc, André, and Sophie find themselves in a world where survival seems increasingly less likely—for themselves, and indeed, for the nation.
Featuring cameos from legendary figures such as Maximilien Robespierre, King Louis XVI, and Alexandre Dumas, Where the Light Falls is an epic and engrossing novel, moving from the streets and courtrooms of Paris to Napoleon’s epic march across the burning sands of Egypt. With vivid detail and imagery, the Patakis capture the hearts and minds of the citizens of France fighting for truth above all, and for their beliefs in a cause greater than themselves.
