It’s here! Well, my copies are here. Song of Leira will officially go out to the world on June 5th, which is amazingly, only one week from today! And in the meantime, we’re launching an online blog tour! I’ll be sharing posts here and on my Facebook page and Twitter so you guys can see how the early readers are reacting to the book.
Nearly four years since Orphan’s Song first came out, The Songkeeper Chronicles is complete at last. And I’m still slightly in awe. Seeing the three books together just sets my heart winging for the sky.
So y’all will have to bear with me, because I honestly can’t talk about this story without getting a little emotional – in a good way.
The night my copies arrived, I sat and read Song of Leira long into the morning. It was the first time I’ve done that with one of my books once it was past the publication process and immediately prior to release. I suppose in the past, I had this sense of fear that I would find errors too late to fix them or that I would somehow be ashamed of the story that I was about to present to the world.
Lately, I am realizing that I have spent much of my writing career operating under that sort of vague sense of fear.
But this time, I read. And I read. And I read until I turned the final page and I closed the book, and I didn’t quite cry tears, but I sat there holding this book in my hands – this big, beautiful, imperfect book – and I was reminded of a phrase from a verse.
“Perfect love casts out fear.”
And while I don’t think we should ever pull phrases out of the context of the rest of that passage (and you can read the rest of it in I John 4:18) that specific phrase did stick in my mind.
Because as odd as it may sound, to me this book is the fruit of love and an evidence of God’s grace from start to finish and that knowledge drives out so much of that pre-release fear and anxiety.
Writing this series has been a journey that brought me through my share of trials and struggles, and grace has been evident every step of the way, through the car accident that interrupted the prep for Orphan’s Song’s release, through a dry and barren time of recovery during the writing and publication of Songkeeper, and then through months of challenge and struggle and wrestling to finish this story, to wrap up all the threads, to somehow bring the characters back from pain and suffering and horror toward restoration and hope.
And I struggled, y’all. And my writing deadline crept ever closer.
That final two months of the writing process is all a blur of exhaustion and struggle and challenge in my mind, and I started each day with prayer and prayed through each writing session because I was sure there was no way I could finish.
I don’t know how many times I muttered to myself, “I can’t do this. I can’t! There’s just not enough time!”
I felt like a failure.
I felt so alone.
But somehow, the story progressed, and I wrote faster and harder than I have ever written before.
Grace.
In the wee hours of the morning of my deadline, I typed the final sentence. The story was complete at nearly 40,000 words longer than it was supposed to be. I read through it once.
I sent it in to my editor.
I waited with bated breath.
And when his response finally came in, I just about cried. Because he didn’t make a single big picture change to the story. And even though he purposefully searched for passages to cut and for ways to trim the story down, he didn’t take out a single scene. Not one.
Grace. Unending grace, pouring down.
(Now before you guys panic, Song of Leira did go through edits, like any book! We cleaned it up. We tightened and clarified and polished and shined it up for you all. And I’m so grateful for all my editors!)
But the fact that this rough draft that I’d hammered out and cried over and lost so much sleep finishing could have become what it is, there is no other explanation but grace.
And yet even now, a part of me struggles with typing that because it feels arrogant to claim that God’s grace enabled me to finish writing this book. “What does it matter?” I want to ask. “It’s just a book.” And yet I remind myself that it is grace that allows me to draw my next breath. And grace that provides my next meal. And the grace of a loving Father that carries me through triumph and excitement and sorrow and grief and joy.
So though I love this book more than any of the other books I’ve yet written, and though there’s a part of me that would be tempted to be more proud of this book than anything else I’ve written, I can honestly say that I have nothing to be proud of because I know that I did not make it through the writing process on my own.
But I will write of grace and be grateful for grace, and if like Birdie, I could sing one master melody, it would be the anthem of grace unending.
Your Turn: How have you seen that anthem of grace at work in your life recently?
Ready to read the first two chapters of Song of Leira? Access them here!
Ready to Pre-Order Song of Leira? Find the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD.
And don’t forget that we have a special pre-order reward (a short story, River of Song) that you can claim by uploading your receipt through the pre-order form.
Deborah O'Carroll says
Awww! This post is SO BEAUTIFUL. ^_^ Thanks so much for sharing. CONGRATULATIONS on this final book releasing, and your story of grace is so inspiring. I can’t wait to finish the book! <3
Gillian Bronte Adams says
Thanks, friend! I honestly couldn’t let the release go by without sharing the overflowing of grace that led to it!
Audrey Caylin says
That was beautiful, Gillian. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your story here. I’m three-fourths of the way through Song of Leira and I’ve teared up half a dozen times already — the book is beautiful, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but I can feel God working in my heart through that book. It came at just the perfect time in my life as I’m struggling with fear and feel so much like Birdie. Thank you for writing such an amazing story, and I can’t wait until everyone has a chance to read it!
Gillian Bronte Adams says
Aw, Audrey, you have no idea what it means to me to hear that! I’m with you. I keep finding myself in Birdie’s shoes, journeying that same journey that the Song takes her on in this book. So I am so glad that the Lord has been encouraging you as you read, and I pray that He continues growing and molding and shaping you through His love.
Lilli Avila says
Yeah Gillian, you are amazing and I am so lucky that I met you and am probably able to call you a friend. So excited to read your new book. Always here 4 you😁
Gillian Bronte Adams says
It was so nice meeting you too! And yes, of course, you can call me friend! :D I’m glad you found your way to the blog.
Lavay says
Hi, Gillian! Congradulations on Song of Leira! (Now, I haven’t read the other books yet, but I’m really planning to do so! :) ) The only book that drew me was “Out of Darkness Rising”, which is by far the most powerful novella I’ve ever read!
I was reading this post when something in your words struck me as familiar. I was reading how you had this fear of finding errors in your books when it was too late. It sounded like my own struggles. I think I had that same fear for my own books. Even long after finishing my debut fantasy series last year, I wanted to make the books “more perfect”— especially book 1 of my series. Every time I read the books, I cringe at the errors. Even after publishing the first book of my new series, I cringed. I was afraid that people would like some books better than the other one… or none of them at all because of the errors.
But then I read the post a second time and saw the words— “this big beautiful imperfect book”. When I read them again, I saw a glimpse of myself reading my recebtly published… beautiful imperfect book. THen God gave me a revelation.
The beautiful perfect book… is like me.
I realized that my life was a story of grace. There were so many “errors” in my past, some that I wish I could erase forever… but God called me “beautiful”. Even when I slip or stumble sometimes, God still loved me enough to get me back on my feet. He gave me grace enough to turn and surrender to His overwhelming love. I wouldn’t be living in a apartment-basement if it weren’t for God. I could go on and on, but the evidence is too overwhelming.
Like our books, just because there are errors doesn’t mean that the story is no longer beautiful. Our books are beautiful because of God’s grace and love. We’re beautiful because of God’s grace and love.
I just wanted to thank you because it felt as if God was speaking to my heart through this post… for my writing journey and in my life. I’m believing that God will do amazing things with your books! I can’t wait to read the Songkeeper Chronicles for myself!
Gillian Bronte Adams says
Oh, I love this! I love the connection you made between our beautiful, imperfect books and our lives. God’s love for us does not depend on our perfection. That’s why we don’t need to fear. And I am so SO grateful that is true.
Thanks so much for sharing! I was so encouraged by your words.
Lavay says
Aw, your welcome! That’s so sweet of you! It really wasn’t my words but God’s. :) Thank you for sharing your words!
Lillianna Avila says
I reread this and I am really glad that even thought there were hard times while writing the book and the struggles that came along were hard and challenging as well, that the grace of God was always with you and I believe that while you were finishing the book, whether pencil or computer, He was there helping you with that last chapter, that last sentence, that last word. We all sometimes fell like a failure and that nothing can help us overcome that, but that is why our Lord Jesus died for us and saved us from our sins. So now if we feel like a failure and the world has no reason for us, we simply call on the name Jesus and He will come to us and help heal our scars. I am on Chapter Nine on Orphans Song and I am really felling the characters emotions, Ky and his protection for Meli, Cade and his love for his sister Aliyah, Amos and his care for Birdie. Even when one of the characters gets hurt and doesn’t know if they can make it, like Gundhrold, they always find a way. You have done an incredible job writing a Fantasy book that everyone from the Sun to Pluto would love. So if you ever fell down, there are people surrounding you that love you and will always be there for you. I can not wait to read your other books until I reach Song of Leira, continue the great work.