My name is Erica, and I’m a wig snatcher. I didn’t choose the wig-snatching life; the wig snatching life chose me. I would much rather laugh and cry with you than hit you with hard truths all the time. I’m really a fun person who likes long walks in the park with good music in her ears or lounging on my couch with a good movie on the TV. But as I said, wig snatching chose me.

That intro is supposed to be witty, but it’s not untrue. I find that every time I sit down to write a book, I morph into this tough love chick who relishes dropping truth bombs on people–in love, of course.

With Break Right, my new book on finding wholeness in heartbreak, I thought things were going to be different. I’ve been writing this book while walking through a breakup myself. I am more than empathetic toward women who’ve gone through a relationship ending. The whole reason I wanted to write this book is because I wanted to help women find true healing from heartbreak by pointing them to Christ. I’ve teared up at responses to interview questions, articles on Psychology Today and at sermons. I have the softest heart toward hurting women I’ve ever had.

Yet when I opened a document containing a simple, straightforward chapter today to do a final edit, it was driven home to me for the umpteenth time while putting the final touches on things that this book has continued my wig snatching ways.

You see, well, the thing is…I am doing exactly what I set out to do. It doesn’t look anything like I thought it would, but then it never does. I sometimes feel like God shows me the end result of my books to entice me to write them, then hits me with the truth hammer once I’m too invested to back out. And hit me He has.

I have lost a few of my edges living and learning through the contents of my books, but by the end of this book, I’m going to be a bald head scallywag (I hope I didn’t just curse in pirate). Never have I ever had my edges snatched quite like this. This time around, I have been snatched up and dressed down what feels like every day.

When the original publication date rolled around, I realized something was missing from the book. I pushed the book back to figure out what it was and how to approach adding it to the book. The closer I got to the pub date, the more gritty and real my observations and evaluations of myself and my break up became. The more honest I was with myself, the less I felt I could publish another “woo, woo, woo” and “there ,there” pat on the head book for my single sisters in Christ. So here I sit, pre-apologizing for snatching off your wig and telling you how much better you look without it.

My feelings about releasing this book are the biggest mixed bag of emotions I’ve ever experienced around a book release. That’s to be expected because this is the most personal I’ve ever written, and includes some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the last year and a half of my life. I’m not sure I want the tens of people who buy my books to read about all my missteps and misjudgments. But I don’t want women to miss the message at the heart of this book, that there is wholeness in this season of heartbreak and a really good God standing with you in a bad situation. I don’t want them to miss out on the healing that I’m experiencing even now because I won’t tell them about meeting Jesus in the midst of my mess. But God knew that already, too.

Just so you know, this wasn’t a post to advertise my upcoming book. It’s a sorry not sorry for all past, present and future wig snatching wrought by my tiny hands. But if you are interested in Break Right: Finding Wholeness in Heartbreak, and a Good God in a Bad Breakup, here’s what you need to know: the book will be released (prayerfully–no seriously, pray saints!) February 13, 2018. I will have the cover and synopsis up on my website, in a few days. You can keep up with all book-related news on said website, http://www.aseriousseason.com, though I may hope over here and post the highlights.

I ain’t sorry (aka xoxo),

Erica