How Actress Christy Cashman Went From Publishing Rejection to Bestseller Lists (And How You Can Too)

Ferol Vernon (00:02.552)

Hello, authors, and welcome to the Written Word Podcast. I am Ferol Vernon, and today I have an incredibly special guest. I am with actress, producer, and author Christy Scott Cashman. Now, Christy is the author of a couple of books, but one of her books, The Truth About Horses, won the IBPA Award. She’s been in a variety of Hollywood movies. And we are super excited to dig into it today, Christy.

So welcome to the show.

Christy (00:34.24)

Thank you. I’m excited to dig in as well. 

Ferol Vernon (00:39.534)

Our audience is authors and publishers, people that are writers just like you. And I think, you know, what they would love to understand a little bit before we get into it, and I wanna talk about the first book, I wanna talk about the second book, I wanna talk about book launches. but before we get into it, I think it would be really great for us to understand, you know, how did you get into movies? Because a lot of our authors write a book first.

And then they want it to become a movie. You were in the movies first before you wrote a book. Talk to us a little bit about that journey. How did you get into into acting?

Christy (01:16.136)

Yeah, thank you. Well, I started off I think not really knowing what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to be in the world of storytelling. And I also was definitely drawn to the film world. I started I took acting classes and that kind of thing when I first went to New York and then LA. And then I started taking some screenwriting courses. And I think I maybe had the idea

That I would write something eventually and then an act in it. Which I did. I did a well, I did a short that I pr wrote, directed, and produced. I didn’t act in. It was called Night Department. Sorry, that one was called The Little Things. And that was in some ways that was my film school in a way. I, you know, saw it from script to screen essentially. And then I got into producing, reading scripts.

developing projects, trying to get actors attached, directors attached, and trying to produce. And then and then slowly I kind of lost interest in that. I think because it’s first of all, you’re dealing with so many different people when you do a film project. It’s such a difficult it’s not just about falling in love with a story. There are so many other aspects of developing

a project for the screen that I found kind of drained me creatively. And yeah, and I think that when I did one of the films, I felt like it that I’d written and adapted it, it felt like it wasn’t even the same story afterwards. And I’d taken a little bit of a break from doing trying to produce things.

Ferol Vernon (02:49.416)

Interesting.

Christy (03:10.634)

And signed up for some writing classes where I thought that I was going to write a treatment about this horse story, which was which involved these this mystical herd of horses. That’s all I knew when I went into the to take classes. And once I started writing, the voice of the narrator, the the protagonist, became so clear. And it was just very obvious that it had to be a a novel. And

So I went with that after some encouragement from one of the instructors and some of the people that I was taking the class with. And and I’m glad that I did. It was such an interesting path to take. it also felt like I was kind of finding my voice creatively that I’d lost along the ways from being in different film projects.

Ferol Vernon (04:05.563)

Interesting. Okay. And so would you say, you know, the class that you’re talking about and the people that you’re interacting with, was it really kind of and we’ll talk a lot about community here today, was it that community that sort of pushed you from, you know, obviously still being in the creative industry and movies and then wanting, you know, to actually write a a a novel? Or do you feel like that, you know, motivation came from within?

Christy (04:28.683)

Both. I think that yeah, I think I had that voice inside my head that was encouraging me to write books, write fiction. And and I think when you have that voice that’s there and and you’re not always listening to it, when somebody says it to you, all of a sudden it becomes like, yeah, that’s

You know, that sounds right. That sounds like something I I’ve I should be doing. Because in a way, it’s been maybe it’s been there all the time.

Ferol Vernon (05:05.032)

Yeah, interesting. And so, you know, your your debut novel, The Truth About Horses, did did really, really well. You know, it got great reviews, it won a few awards. but you know, based on my reading, it took you a little while to complete. So talk to us about the process of actually, you know, you talked about how you kind of got the idea and the encouragement. how how did the actual writing go?

Christy (05:27.297)

Well, I took a long time because I wasn’t sure what I was doing. You know, it was the first time going or a attempting to write a novel. And there were I there was a lot of self doubt, there was a lot of, you know, putting it down for long stretches of time, there was a lot of life getting in the way, there was a lot of just stuff that that made me

think about it and wonder, you know, what I guess what I was doing. I would, I’d sometimes write and and go down the wrong path and then have to and get frustrated and sort of feel like I was in the weeds and have to dig myself out. But one thing that I knew was that every time I went back to the story, every time I put my butt in the seat to go back to writing it, it always

Ferol Vernon (06:18.022)

Yeah.

Christy (06:22.045)

made me excited to get back to the story. So that to me was a sign. It always there was it felt like that story was just really wanting, you know, to be told from and I was the, you know, the conduit for it in a way. And that’s a great feeling. That’s a really great feeling to sort of feel like, you know, it’s it’s it it needs to be told with your voice, but also there has to be this willingness to let it allow it to be the story that it’s supposed to be.

Ferol Vernon (06:35.546)

That’s amazing, yeah.

Ferol Vernon (06:51.653)

Yeah, it’s amazing. I think it’s so good to hear that. So, like a lot of our listeners, I’m sure that resonates with them. They’re writers, you know, they’ve gone through all the things that you just mentioned. and when I speak to writers in person, you know, I hear a lot of the same things that you just told me. So I think it’s really great. You know, when the story comes is is ready to come out, that’s important. Don’t, you know, don’t beat yourself up if it’s taking a little bit time. And I want to talk a little bit about publishing that book because you went through, as I understand it, a hybrid publisher, right?

Christy (07:05.014)

Yeah.

Christy (07:18.728)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ferol Vernon (07:19.349)

And so a lot of what we talk about on this show is about books and book marketing and how that works. So talk to me a little bit about what the marketing plan was for truth about horses, given it was your first time. And then what kind of support did did you and did you not get from the publisher?

Christy (07:36.607)

Yeah, that was crazy. What a crazy ride that was. sure you get the crazy answers all the time. But so I was convinced that that I was going to do in the film world, I had gone the direct in the direction of you know, independent filmmaking. I was in that world. and I was convinced that.

Ferol Vernon (07:38.798)

Yeah.

Christy (08:03.381)

This was going to be my, I was going to be, you know, represented by a big agent and one of the big five publishers was going to take me on. It just I just had that feeling, partly because I was getting amazing feedback from agents when I would send it out. And and partly because a really well-known author gave it to her agent, and we were back and forth with notes and everything when I was in revisions. And

he eventually passed. And that was heartbreaking for me because I I just ha thought that, you know, it was just gonna be as easy as, you know, he’s gonna love it, he’s going to get it published, he’s going to to to make it get out in the world in a big way. Well, that came crashing down really fast. And then I was just back to having to figure out my own path.

Ferol Vernon (08:35.834)

wow. I’m sure.

Christy (09:03.531)

And you know, during that time there were these hybrid publishing companies that were cropping up. And some of them were were with major publishing companies, but they were their independent arm, I guess, is how you’d say it. So eventually I

I went with She Writes Press I had two really big agents that were that were kind of I guess stringing me along, I guess. Three if I really think about it. But but yeah, all of them eventually passed and I had to realize, and it’s true.

Ferol Vernon (09:52.724)

Yeah.

Christy (10:00.765)

it wasn’t about the book, it was about the so many other things, the the you know political climate, the the time, you know, of what was happening in the world, and then you know, realizing that publishers always want to have sort of a a very diverse stable of authors, you know. And unfortunately, I

Ferol Vernon (10:25.524)

Mm. Yeah.

Christy (10:28.925)

I don’t fit fortunately and unfortunately for the publishing, for the sake of publishing my book, I was not, you know, in that category. And and I knew that my I knew that my story was good. I’d given it to so many people who that I trusted their view and they weren’t just telling me what I wanted to hear. And so I guess that I that was when I just said, okay, well, I’m gonna do this on my own and I’m going to create a team around me that

we’ll get it out in the world by, you know, I I hired a publish a publicist, I hired a kind of a whole a la carte team, some someone who is essentially what I call her, I call her my launch manager, but she does so much more than that. you know, an assistant, a a s a a social media person. And and I r I realized

Ferol Vernon (11:23.753)

Yeah.

Christy (11:27.157)

That’s one thing that I learned in the film business actually is that if you create a film, if you have a budget to create a film and you get it made, it is so important to spend j almost just as much as that time, energy, money getting it out in the world as it was as you did spending time making the film. Because otherwise it’s it’s not gonna be seen. And so I definitely knew that I needed to do that with my book.

Ferol Vernon (11:48.39)

Yeah.

Christy (11:56.267)

based on how I saw and experienced the film world.

Ferol Vernon (12:00.158)

That’s amazing. Yeah. I think, you know, we talk about that all the time on this show. The, you know, the model that a lot of authors take is publish and pray, and that doesn’t work, you know. And you said and you said it it doesn’t work. You said it really well. So, so how did you handle this shift? You know, you’re you’re writing this book, you’re doing a lot of things in independent film, all of a sudden you have to kind of become the CEO and lead marketer of your little book team that you’ve assembled. Talk to me about that transition. What was that like?

Christy (12:07.388)

Yeah, doesn’t work. No.

Christy (12:26.549)

Yeah, that’s that’s hard because it’s an entirely different hat that you have to put on. I think that I had to make myself curious about the process and I had to make myself dive in and and and market myself. I mean, yeah, I think it’s true creative people aren’t always the best marketers and it’s but it can be learned, you know, and it’s I think it’s so necessary to learn it. I think

Even the very well known authors now, I mean you see them, they all have major presences on a major presence on social media. And everybody’s realizing that you know the landscape’s changed and and you’ve got to get people’s attention, but not just get their attention, but hold their attention. Think about how we’re, you know, we’re the how quickly we click through things. Well, we’re actually asking people to sit for hours and

open and read a book, you know, so it’s a lot it’s a uphill b it’s an uphill battle.

Ferol Vernon (13:31.804)

Yeah. So so talk to me about like, you know, what were some of the things that you did? So you assembled your little your your team. what were some of the things that you did for that initial launch that that worked? And and we’ll talk about, you know, what what you learned along the way for the next book as well. But like on on that first book, like what worked?

Christy (13:51.019)

Yeah, good question. Because we threw a lot of shit up against the wall to see what would stick. And this time we definitely learned a lot from doing that first the first book. We would just find all of these different themes within the book. try to create moments, try to give people things memorable moments to walk away with and say, you know, yeah, this is a book that I want to read.  

And some of them were  Some of them were like, you know, actual physical events to go to. And then some of them are showing up writing blogs, writing articles, showing up for podcasts and and and just pretty much doing anything that that we could think of. This time we’ve honed it a little bit more and we’re a little bit more selective and and it’s still really busy. So yeah.

Ferol Vernon (15:14.713)

I’m sure. So so talk talk about the the the new book and and talk about like what’s changed, you know, both in like your approach to to writing the book, your your approach to marketing a book. You know, you had a lot of success, you know, I I would say right out of the gate, although there was a lot of work that went into that we just talked about. but talk to us the difference be between the two books.

Christy (15:43.191)

I feel like one thing that’s different is the even though the bo voice of each of the protagonists are teenagers, so you know, young adult coming of age, both of them, their voices are are very different. And and I feel like what happened in Beulah has a little bit more of a universal feel to it.

Whereas, you know, when you look at the truth about horses, you think, it it, you know, s if you don’t know the story, you think, it’s just a horse book, right? And it is a horse book, but it’s also about, you know, so much more. The horses are really just the backdrop of the story. And but sometimes people still don’t don’t get that. I think using the town as a backdrop, the entire town of Beulah, Tennessee, is what

is what makes it a little bit different because i it becomes I think clear that Beulah is just the microcosm of of the rest of the world.

Ferol Vernon (16:50.551)

Got it. Okay. And then in terms of like the team, we meant we talked about you, you know, becoming you know, the CEO of this little team of people that was, you know, marketing and producing the book. Did you keep the same team with you from The Truth About Horses to What Happened in Balua?

Christy (16:58.775)

Mm-hmm.

Christy (17:05.021)

No, I had a different I had a different PR team, person, I should say, and I had at the time a different assistant. So the one the one person who really spearheads the entire thing, her name is Shannon Pastuzak, and she’s just incredibly talented and knowledgeable and

I mean we kinda took it on together because she came out of the publishing the magazine publishing world. She was an editor of a magazine. And so books were not her thing. And so you know we we took it on together and and she’s just a such an incredible go-getter, her energy and her ability to be resourceful. I mean she’s really a producer if if I had to say wha what is

What does she do? She produces. She makes stuff happen, you know. And and in bringing the book out in the world, that’s th those are really important skill sets.

Ferol Vernon (18:06.496)

Yeah.

Ferol Vernon (18:13.951)

That’s amazing. Yeah. I think, you know, we talk about all the time that the having the right people around you and whether it’s, you know, you know, people that you’re working with, friends, family, whoever it is, makes all the world of difference when you’re trying to bring something creative out into the world. So it sounds like you’ve got some really great people behind you, which is amazing.

Christy (18:28.757)

Yeah. I know I’m really very lucky. And it never would have happened if I if I relied on a a big publisher. You know, that’s Shannon and I were talking about that. I thought if I’d have relied on a big publisher to bring the truth about horses into the world and market it and do all that, I never would have had this experience to realize that I can actually do all that stuff. You know, I can or I can surround myself with the the people to do it. At least.

Ferol Vernon (18:57.256)

Yeah, that’s so incredible and and inspiring. I think, you know, and we talk about it a lot here about, you know, independent creativity and how, you know, it it’s so amazing that you can now take these stories that maybe otherwise would have been, you know, the gatekeepers would have said, no, there’s there’s no audience for that. And you can bring them into the world and you can have success and you can find readers. And I think it’s amazing. I w I want to talk a little bit about community because one of the things that you’ve mentioned a few times, sort of like your your team of people around you, and then also.

Christy (19:13.63)

Mm-hmm.

Christy (19:17.771)

Yeah.

Ferol Vernon (19:26.541)

you talked about the example of going into a knitting store, just being around people that might read this book. How do you how do you think about community in terms of your books and then, you know, all the other things that you’re doing?

Christy (19:39.713)

Hmm.

I I have

I’m s I guess I have so been so fortunate in my life to have so many different communities in my life. And it’s something that I I you know I think about, but I also don’t always realize how

When you have these all of these different communities, how much it is important to a creative, you know, to I think a creative person because for instance giving back, you know, giving back is is important. And after I finished The Truth About Horses, I realized that it felt like I had been given a gift to be able to take the time and and belief in myself.

to to write and finish the story. And I felt like there were a lot of kids or young people, adults, who could benefit so much from a a program that instilled these things, that told you that along the way that you would doubt yourself, that told you that you’d stumble and and you know want to throw want to throw your laptop against the wall sometime. You know that

Ferol Vernon (21:05.617)

I’m sure that’s never happened to a writer listening to this show, but yeah.

Christy (21:07.071)

And that that’s o Yeah. That that’s all part of it, you know, it’s all part of trying to do something. And and you know, if you don’t try to do something, then you know, you’re never gonna do it. Ten years is gonna go by whether you write a book or not, you know? And I love that expression because it’s so it’s true about anything. And

there are so many valuable lessons in in deciding just to do it, whatever it is. And I can tell you that I just I feel like just the saying yes and just being willing to do the hard work and get frustrated, like I was saying before.

Ferol Vernon (21:41.105)

It’s okay.

Christy (22:06.101)

was so important to live through and being able to bring that to other people and especially kids, the age I think like 13 to 18, the the program that I started is called You Think, and that’s the age that we target because that’s where you want to be told. I think that, you know, that’s where I would have loved to have been told. you know, look, you’re gonna, you’re gonna try something and it’s not gonna go the way you think it’s gonna go.

And just because it doesn’t go the way you think it’s gonna go doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. You know, I think we give up so easily sometimes because it doesn’t go it the way we think it’s gonna go. But if you’re a creative person, you’ve got to have that ability to, you know, to duck and and and you know and and squirm and move and I don’t know, just go with the go with it and and be persistent, you know.

Ferol Vernon (23:02.306)

Yeah, I think that that message of resilience is so inspiring and wonderful. I mean, I think it’s really incredible that you’re doing that. And maybe, you know, let’s just take a minute because we were joking right before the show that I was telling Chrissy that I was and doing research for the program. I started getting tired just looking at all the different things that she does. And so, you know, you have a nonprofit that we just spoke a little bit about. You’ve got a business that you you’ve started and run that’s in a castle. I think you might be the first castle based business that we’ve had on the show.

Christy (23:19.295)

Ha ha

Christy (23:30.728)

Yeah.

Ferol Vernon (23:31.937)

and and you’ve got writing and you’re still involved in the film business. So, you know, how how do you manage this portfolio approach to life when you have so many like interesting and compelling things going on at once?

Christy (23:43.315)

It’s a lot and it’s and I think everybody has a lot going on. And I think that sometimes it’s difficult because I’m holding a lot of plates in the air and something

Ferol Vernon (23:47.253)

Ha ha.

Christy (24:13.609)

something eventually, you know, falls. And and

I feel like life is an art at the same time. You know, life living life is an art and you are literally every day choosing to tell your story. And that kind of is more clear to me on some days than other days when you know when when it gets really hard to get up and have the energy to get through the day and

and sit down and write or do whatever. sometimes it’s it’s not as obvious to me that the whole idea that, you know, that that we are this is all we have, this moment is all we have, and all we can do is move into it in a way that we feel we’re expressing what we you know what you think that your purpose for life is.

Ferol Vernon (25:18.365)

That’s amazing. You at Written Warren Media, we have one of our core values besides just support the author is be the protagonist. Right. And so I think that really resonates with me is, you know, you are the protagonist of your own life. And like every day you get up and you and you get to make the choices that that drive the actions that you want to take. And I think that’s a really cool, it’s really a cool message.

Ferol Vernon (25:38.699)

And so talk to me a little bit about like how writing fits into your life. So, you know, we talked about a lot of the things that you have going on. and you’ve just, you know, your most recent book you just published a few weeks ago. So I’m sure that’s taking up a lot of your time. But how do you balance the actual writing versus the marketing versus, you know, you mentioned when life life gets in the way or life happens?

Christy (26:05.343)

Yeah, I’m not great at that to be honest. I’m I wish I was better. I need to find a better balance because I feel like I wake up and and I’m just bombarded, you know. And so the only thing that I’ve found that helps when I’m when I’m particularly busy and when I feel like there’s just you know, it’s one thing after the next and you know it it emails and texts and social media and all of that can be very distracting.

Ferol Vernon (26:07.723)

Ha ha

Christy (26:35.383)

to trying to be creative. And and so I get a little frustrated when I’m not able to focus on a you know a manuscript or sit down and actually, you know, journal. If I I can go if I go too many days without sitting down and journaling, I know something’s wrong and something feels kind of stuck and pent up and that kind of thing. So the only thing that I found that seems to be working a little bit

is when I if I when I wake up, I don’t get up out of bed right away. I lie there and try to do a little meditation and try try to feel, you know, like, okay, I’m I’m protected by something like a a like a bubble or something like that and and breathe a little. And and that’s hard too, you know, when you’re when you know you’ve got to get up and move and do something right away and get back to somebody.

It’s it’s hard to lie there and not do anything. So sometimes doing nothing is hard for me.

Ferol Vernon (27:42.628)

I think that’s art that resonates so much with me. It’s so hard to do, especially when there’s so many exciting things, you know, to work on. so Christy, let me talk a little bit about like the new book, right? I want to give you an opportunity to talk about it. Like how how did you get inspired to to write it? And then you know, I’d love to know how it’s going. I think it it came out a little over two weeks ago.

Christy (27:49.633)

Yeah.

Christy (28:04.297)

Yeah. It is set in the Smoky Mountains and I grew up in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. I set the story in eastern Tennessee just because I thought I don’t know it was more interesting, partly because of the Dollywood part of this part of the story. And she’s she was in, you know, Pigeon Forge. That’s where Dollywood was. Pigeon Forge is just about

I don’t know, 45 minutes from where I grew up. And I I felt like there was a lot for me to explore and mine from my experience growing up there because we moved there when I was seven. And I remember it felt so different. And I think when you’re seven years old and you move someplace different, and life is sort of there’s a big change in life.

those things get locked away in your brain and and are so great to use because you know you remember everything so vividly and and so I think that just the you know the way that people would talk about the fog the way they would talk about how the mountains look different every day the way that

Ferol Vernon (29:05.2)

Yeah.

Christy (29:30.369)

the storms would come in like clockwork at a certain time of day. I mean, this is all, you know, I in the book. And I think that I felt like I could describe it well. And for me, this is my next task actually as a writer is what is the next world that I’m going to write about going to be? Because with my first book I could write about horses very convincingly and the world of horses because I could talk the talk. This book I could write

the world of eastern Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains and what it was like in the eighties, as a young girl, because I experienced it. And so I think that even though you make up the characters in the world and you create the story and the plot and all of that, I think that writing about a place really, really well

has to be something that the author or the writer for me is is something I know, you know, something I’ve experienced. so for me, my next place, I don’t know, maybe it’ll be a castle, maybe my next setting will

Ferol Vernon (30:42.851)

I love that. Yeah, and Chrissy, I yeah, I don’t know if you know, but we’re actually I’m I’m sitting in North Carolina right now when we’re recording this podcast. I am. we’re in Chapel Hill in the Triangle, but I spend a lot of time in Western North Carolina. It’s one my favorite places in the world. So that’s really amazing to hear you speak of it like that.

Christy (30:51.747)

you are aware?

Christy (30:56.051)

So  I want to talk a little bit about, you know, bringing us back to the beginning of the conversation. We were talking about movies and we’re talking about books, and there’s a relationship there. And think it’s a really an interesting one, especially the background that you bring to it. do you have any plans or thoughts n as you coming from the movie business to take your your novels that have been successful at this point and then you know go the other way and turn them into movies?

Christy (31:06.549)

Yeah, that’s right. That’s great. I love that area.

Christy (31:34.785)

Well, actually my first book, Jane Seymour optioned, she read it. Yeah. So we met over in Ireland when she was working on Harry Wilde, the series. And she came over actually because I was I was having one of my workshops with the mentorship program. And one of the actors who was in Harry Wilde with her, he was just like a day player or something, but he told her about it because he also worked

Ferol Vernon (31:38.465)

That’s incredible.

Christy (32:03.679)

with me with the workshops. And he he mentioned the workshop and said, you know, it’s this weekend and I know it’s your day off, but you know, would you be interested in coming to meet the kids? And she came. And she was so lovely to, you know, spend her whole day off, the only day off that she had, and they sh they have a pretty rigorous shooting schedule on this show. And so

The fact just the fact that she said yes and she came and she was so lovely and we had kind of an instant connection. we’ve been really good friends ever since. She’s actually interviewing me at the Skylight in LA on November tenth. So yeah. So we’re gonna have a a book talk there. but she read it and after we met, she ha she was very busy. It it took her a long time and I was I kept

Ferol Vernon (32:46.005)

Amazing.

Christy (33:00.925)

I had a really hard time not not bugging her about it and saying, Hey Jane, remember my book? Remember my book? And she got it in manuscript form. So it had it was like this thick with a binder and everything. And so I think she left it in her apartment in Dublin, then she left another one in some other part of the world, and then finally I had

Ferol Vernon (33:06.304)

Yeah.

Ferol Vernon (33:26.975)

Yeah.

Christy (33:28.403)

I got it to her. And she read it on the plane. And she was so moved by it that she the next time we got together, she asked if I’d up if I, you know, was thinking of adapting it. And I s and I said, yes, of course. And that and so she optioned it. And we’re trying to develop that together. And and I have a really strong sense that.

What happened in Beulah could be a a Netflix series or, you know, any series. It doesn’t have to be Netflix.

Ferol Vernon (34:03.552)

Yeah. And so so for the second book, how’s the first two weeks been? I mean, I I know you’re you’re probably pretty busy with launch activities, but what does that look like for you?

Christy (34:11.529)

It looks amazing. I’m getting amazing reviews. I’m getting I’ve made a couple of bestseller lists on Amazon. with thank you. with cat with it, I think Kindle it was it became a number one bestseller just yesterday. So if of course, you know, young adult fiction, but that’s a pretty big that’s a pretty big category. And the other categories, you know, it’s like

Ferol Vernon (34:19.794)

Good for you, that’s amazing.

Ferol Vernon (34:35.624)

Right. Yeah, it’s a big category.

Christy (34:40.009)

Young adult with substance abuse it was number it hit number one. Young adult what was the other bullying with about bullying it it hit number one that category. So yeah, to be making those kind of lists after just a week of being out is really exciting and you know who doesn’t like seeing number one on something, you know? Yeah, ’cause

Ferol Vernon (35:04.166)

Of course. Yeah. That’s what everybody listen to this podcast. That’s why they’re listening. They’re like, hey, how do I get to be number one? Yeah. and so what are the some of the things that that you’ve been doing, like from a marketing and promotional standpoint the last two weeks? Like what are some of the things that have been, you know, really exciting that for the for the new book?

Christy (35:27.829)

Well, we had our kind of big opening celebration on launch day, which was October twentieth, at the Ned Nomad Hotel in New York. And that was really cool. some friends of mine came, Harry Connick Junior, his wife Jill Goodacre showed up. So not too shabby. That was very fun. my friend Nancy Wyden came.

Ferol Vernon (35:48.24)

Wow.

Ferol Vernon (35:51.622)

Yeah.

Christy (35:57.503)

An old friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in a really long time, Michael Paines, showed up. And it was it was magical. That place, the library at the Ned Nomad. Have you ever been in Manhattan? my gosh, it’s so cool. It was perfect because it’s this deep, deep green painted room, so you know, you’re surrounded by books, got this very deep dark rich. Of course I wore a a green satin suit to match my to match my book cover.

Ferol Vernon (36:09.86)

I have not, no.

Ferol Vernon (36:20.252)

So cool.

Christy (36:27.351)

But these are the kind of things, you know, that that you have to think about that detail and you know, thank God for Shannon for that because she is so detail oriented.

Ferol Vernon (36:28.602)

Hm that’s

Ferol Vernon (36:40.517)

That’s incredible. And so, you know, Christy, one of the things I like to end with is like a piece of advice for for the writers and the creatives who are listening to this. So, you know, what is the, you know, the best piece of creative advice or best piece of marketing advice that you’ve ever that you’ve ever gotten from somebody else and that you want to relay to the audience?

Christy (36:59.957)

I think it goes back to what we talked about earlier, about it’s you know, it’s not gonna go the way you think it’s gonna go, but write anyway. You know, write your way through it. Write your way through the the hard times, write your way through the frustrating times, write your way through the times when you just feel like you don’t have any time to write and write about it how you don’t have any time to write.

Ferol Vernon (37:24.922)

That’s incredible. all right, Christy. Well, a as we’re finishing up, we really appreciate you sharing your your time and your wisdom. if listeners want to learn more about like what you’re up to and you know, read the new book, where can they learn more about you and what you’re working on?

Christy (37:42.625)

Well, certainly follow me on social media, Cashman.Christy, Cashman dot Christy, Christy. And then my website has lots of information on on my calendar of where I’m going to be doing different book talks, book events, and that kind of thing. And that’s Christycashman.com. And so yeah. So thank you. That was really fun.

Ferol Vernon (38:03.706)

Amazing.

Ferol Vernon (38:07.662)

Yeah, absolutely. all right, authors, that’s it. I ha this has been a conversation with Christy Scott Cashman. So thank you for listening. and that’s it. That’s the pod. Go write something and we’ll see you next time.