Milksop: In Others’ Words, Part 1
Does It Ring True?
It’s time for me to say of Milksop, “Don’t take my word for it.” Or at least, “not just my word.”
With the publication date beginning to loom large on the horizon (May 23), Milksop feels to me like a child about to graduate, to move out, to move on into the larger world. My child. And because Milksop is my debut novel, that makes her a debutante, on top of everything else. No pressure!
I’ve done my best to raise this child right with the help of coaches and mentors. A designer has dressed her in a frock worthy of launching her into society. Like a parent, I feel on the one hand this odd blend of love and joy and pride for her (even a bit of perverse glee at pushing her out of the nest), but on the other hand this deep anxiety over who she truly is and what her future might be. How will she do? How will she behave? How will she be treated? Dare I say, Will someone love her?
I’ll always be there for this child of mine, but her future is now largely out of my hands. My hope is she’ll flourish, my fear she’ll fall flat on her face or simply fade away. In many respects, her fate is up to you, Dear Reader.
It’s still two months before Milksop can arrive in your hands or on the screen of your e-reader, but my debutante is already in front of several “pre-pub readers.” My publisher, Alanna Rusnak, has made advance copies available to her circle. I’ve reached out to fellow writers for their opinion of Milksop, and if possible, their endorsement of it. I’ve sought to put it in the hands of people who have influence in reading networks. My novel has been offered to several publications for review. As these reviews, opinions, and “blurbs” arrive in the coming weeks and months, I hope to share them with you here in a series of ODD posts I’m calling “In Others’ Words.”
Today, I’ll start with an endorsement from the farming community, one of the key demographics for Milksop.
Authenticity in Milksop: A Rural-Life Endorsement
“Growing up on a farm in the 70s and 80s, I could totally relate to Milksop. It is well written and brought back so many memories. I highly recommend reading this book if you grew up on a farm.”
Larry Link, Linkhaven Farms
In recent years, a publishing practice has emerged where writers and editors might call upon sensitivity readers to ensure that stories avoid stereotypes around gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities, and so on. The thought is not to police the characters authors might portray or the voices they might adopt, but to ensure each character’s humanity is full and fully respected. (There’s more to unpack on this issue, but not in this post.)
A couple of years ago, I attended a workshop at The Novelry led by a sensitivity reader. Interestingly, he told us that he much preferred the term “authenticity reader.” Writers, he said, want their portraits and their plots to ring true, while still exercising imaginative and artistic freedom about those characters and their lives. An authenticity reader can offer a perspective on whether the “bell” of the story strikes the right note on a range of complex issues.
Though I’m writing fiction, I always want the story to ring true—paradoxically, given that fiction is a form of faking. For the sake of authenticity, over the years I’ve asked for feedback from family, friends, colleagues, friends of colleagues, and former students on a whole range of issues, from motorcycle culture to the lived experiences of people who are LGBTQ+.
Which brings me to Milksop and Larry Link. I’ve known Larry for almost twenty years, as each summer he supplies us with hay for our horses. When I talked with Larry about the novel I was writing, I learned he’d grown up on a dairy farm—right around the time my main character, Evan Mulder, spent a summer on such a farm—1979. Perfect, I thought. I asked Larry to read my novel to ensure I hadn’t made any errors or said anything stupid about dairy farming in 1979. He graciously said “yes.”
When he read Milksop, he also happened to love it—which I found enormously gratifying, especially when he supplied the “blurb” above. From a farming perspective, Milksop is the real deal. It rings true.
Which makes me think there’s a great marketing opportunity waiting for me, a farm market opportunity. I should book a stall at the farmers’ market in town. I’ll promote Milksop as locally grown soul food produced right on my hobby farm. If market goers buy two copies of my book, I’ll even throw in a dozen free-run omega eggs from my Rhode Island Reds. Marketing genius!
Dear Reader: A Reminder
Such reviews and endorsements are important and will be useful as my publisher and I promote Milksop. That said, once it’s published, your response will be even more helpful. If you wish to support Milksop’s coming out into polite reading society, please consider any or all of these actions:
· Pre-ordering a copy: you can do that now at the Chicken House website. After April 23 you’ll be able to do so at your favourite independent bookstore, at Indigo, or at Amazon. Pre-orders create traction for and interest in a book ahead of it launching.
· Once it’s published, check if Milksop is in your local library. If it’s not, you can suggest they add it.
· Share your copy with a friend. Better yet, make it a gift. Heck, make it THE gift of 2026! Pair it with a nice bottle of wine—reading heaven.
· Especially if you enjoy Milksop, shout it from literal and digital rooftops. Share your joy through word of mouth. Post a review at the Chicken House website or the website of the retailer from whom you bought the book. Send me an email with your reaction, and with your permission I’ll post it. In fact, post on social media about your life-changing experience of reading Milksop. Book talk like this is good for the health of the book and qualifies as talk therapy. (Keep your receipt. You might be able to claim Milksop on your taxes as a medical expense.)
I appreciate your considering these actions! Chicken House Press is small, small but mighty I believe. As a Canadian indie press, it doesn’t have the marketing resources of a big publisher. For that reason, the support of readers like you is BIG for a little novel like Milksop.
As always, if the spirit moves you, please share your thoughts and this post.