Sometimes, uprooting the thorn-filled past is the only way we bloom.
Tessa Lewis is set to embark on a Big-Time Career and marry Toronto's fastest-rising lawyer, who loves her to pieces. But when a visit to a flower market from her childhood sparks memories of the mother she lost too soon, Tessa puts her bright future on hold to work there, determined to come to terms with her past.
At the Blue Iris Flower Market, everything is blossoming except the rag-tag crew, each hiding deep scars of their own. When Sam, the beloved but troubled man in charge, takes off and leaves the market reeling, Tessa and her unlikely new friends come face-to-face with their most uncomfortable truths, uprooting lives carefully cultivated-and just maybe, unearthing everything they've ever wanted.
Told from multiple perspectives, The Blue Iris is an intricately woven exploration of love tested beyond its limits, chosen family, and the beauty that grows in letting go.
Reviews
"Riveting, soul-searching, and full of heart. . . . A spectacularly told story. . . . Told in multiple characters' voices, the narrative is riveting, with shocking surprises unraveling at a steady pace. The plot's top-grade tension grows taut as Tessa works herself up to take the hard decision. Readers won't want to put this down." -The Prairies Book Review
"A gorgeous novel-Stone brilliantly captures the power of optimism, the allure of memory. Readers will fall in love with the Blue Iris Flower Market and the vibrant cast of characters they meet there."-Stacy Bierlein, Author of A Vacation on the Island of Ex-Boyfriends
"In The Blue Iris, Rachel Stone shines as a gifted wordsmith. Her narrative is like walking through a lush garden; our senses explode with the beauty in her vivid descriptions. With each chapter, her rich cast of characters take root, grow, and evolve, Tessa most of all. Hers is a difficult journey-to ground herself in truth, she must peel away the facade that has sustained her. Tessa learns a lesson important to each of us: when we let go of dying things, it frees us to hold fast to that which nurtures us. The Blue Iris is an engaging, unique novel of love and chosen family-the best kind." -Carla Damron, Author of The Orchid Tattoo
Author interview with Rachel ~
Tell us a little about
yourself and how you started writing.
The Blue Iris was born from a personal crisis. A rare benign orbital tumour, successfully removed years ago, resurfaced out of the blue (at less than one percent odds). Suddenly my writing dream felt very now-or-never.
I put my corporate career on hold and enrolled in creative writing
classes, thinking if nothing else it would distract from the “what ifs.” I planned
to work on a collection of essays, maybe some poetry—a novel was nowhere on the horizon! But writing
fiction was magic. It was like hypnosis. I kept at it every day and night; I
never wanted to work on anything else.
Months later, I learned the tumour had stabilized--in fact, it appeared
to be shrinking. The Blue Iris stopped feeling like a decision; no
matter how many rewrites, revisions or queries it took, I was never turning my
back on the thing that had given me so much.
Is there anything major that changed in this novel from when you first plotted it out?
Oh, just, you know, minor things like . . . an entire main arc and the climax scene!
My developmental editor flagged that neither were working at all. I remember feeling completely defeated; deep down, I knew she was right, but tackling it seemed impossible.
Someone told me not to attempt any changes right away, but to give it a few days--ideally a week. That advice was GOLD. Sure enough, the longer I sat with it, the more time I spent walking outside, the clearer the path through the changes became.
What was the original title of this book?
The Blue Iris had THREE titles before this one! Originally, it was called All Ways Will, because the book revolved mainly around Tessa and Will’s arc. As rewrites progressed, the secondary characters grew more central, so it no longer fit.
Then it was Deeply Rooted Lies, because everyone is carrying their own stubborn secrets, then Deeply Rooted Goodbyes, because the characters learn to let go of their past traumas. I liked both, but they didn’t match the book’s tone (which is much more uplifting than either suggests).
When I stood back, I realized that as the drafts had evolved, the flower market became the piece tying everything together. It was the heartbeat of the whole thing. Aha moment! The Blue Iris was the obvious choice, and it’s the sort of title that takes on new layers as the story progresses, too, which I always enjoy as a reader.
Can you tell us about your challenges in getting this book published?
That road was so bumpy, I’m not sure those bruises will ever heal!
It was a six-year process from start to finish. I queried it over 150 times (an estimate, because I’d stopped counting after 100), pausing in between to rework and reassess.
The pitch and opening chapter were the biggest problems, I knew that. But I’d revised both to death, and for the life of me, couldn’t figure out how to fix them. I just kept making them worse! I reached a point where I felt good about the rest, but of course, it didn’t matter; if those first pages aren’t on point, you’ve lost your chance. Nobody is reading past them.
At the urging of my writer friends, I ended up workshopping both the pitch and the opening chapter through the WFWA, which allowed me to test out different versions with a broad set of fresh eyes. Finally, I was able to break out of the revision rut! Next time out with the submission package, I had much more traction.
If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you’d change?
I
wouldn’t start each editing pass at the beginning--you lose more and more objectivity
each time!
I
wouldn’t spend so much time on line edits and polishing (for me, the most fun
part) until I was sure the bones were solid--a ton of well-polished scenes
ended up being slashed and cut!
Above
all, I’d put myself out there earlier with fellow writers. I’m very shy at
first, and I had this idea that writing should be a solitary venture, anyway.
Just me and the page. But that got really lonely after awhile, and I was
second-guessing myself in circles. Finding my tribe of writers changed
everything–I learned from them, listened to their stories and discovered that
everything I’d been experiencing was a normal part of the journey, and that was
immensely encouraging.
Starting
out, I didn’t know just how much I didn’t yet know; I’d have saved years of
time and energy had I made those connections sooner. The people of the WFWA
were so willing to share their insights and lessons learned, and so encouraging
at every step. It brings me great satisfaction now when I can do the same. I
always tell writers, find your people! No, seriously, do it now! Yes,
writing is a solo activity, and putting yourself out there when you’re new at
it is SO scary. But we’ve all been there, and it’s infinitely easier (and a lot
more fun) when we’re all in it together.
Do
you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Be obsessed with your characters and ruthless about doing them justice. Obsessed and ruthless carry this negative connotation, but in this context they shouldn’t. The road to publication is so arduous, the revisions and rejections so exhaustive, that I really do believe some degree of both are necessary to keep at it.
Be in love with your book, because you’re going to spend WAY more time inside of it than you can possibly imagine. Write the story that keeps you up at night and kicks you out of bed in the morning. The one you cannot get out of your head no matter how hard you try.
Then, keep doing whatever it takes–whether that’s restructuring the whole thing, or rewriting an arc or a character (or five!). Life will tell you there are more worthy priorities. The world will tell you to move on, and try something else. But when you’re in love with your book and obsessed with its characters, you’ll find that ruthlessness you need to see it through. And once you’re in that headspace, there’s just no way you won’t get there eventually.
To connect with Rachel ~
http://www.rachelstoneauthor.com/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/
Instagram: @racheystone
Facebook: Rachel Stone
Twitter: @rachestone
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