Dear Sara,
Happy 30th birthday from your 40-year-old self. Everything is so new at the moment: you are newly married, still fairly new to living in Perth, in a new house, with new freelance editing contracts for Australian publishers rather than UK publishers. I’m happy to tell you that all those decisions will be great ones, lucky you! Therefore, I wish I could spare you the anxiety of worrying about everything, but then that’s just part of who you are! It can never be said that you make a decision without thinking it through (sometimes tying your mind into knots)!
Life is looking good, but the next ten years will be beyond anything you can dream of right now. You haven’t even finished your first book yet, and you’re not convinced you can do it, but soon you’ll have finished not one but two books, and in the next decade you’ll finish – and publish – FOUR! Not only that but two little girls will come along and turn your life upside down and create merry chaos but will bring unimaginable riches and purpose into your life. In fact, it’s very hard to think back beyond their existence, because your mind is still slightly blurred by six years of uneven sleep and the many demands of a young family.
You are capable of so much more than you think you are right now. But I’m glad I can’t go back and tell you, because I can see that it’s been really important for you to discover this a little bit at a time. In the process you have taught yourself a lot about who you are, and what you can and can’t deal with. Which is much more valuable than someone else telling you – even an older version of yourself.
Finally, when you get on a boat with Germaine Greer, don’t try to talk to her about sea eagles – it’s just not worth it. 🙂
Love,
40-Year-Old You!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sara Foster is the bestselling author of four novels, All That is Lost Between Us, Shallow Breath, Beneath the Shadows and Come Back to Me. She lives in Perth, WA, with her husband and two young daughters. To find out more visit
www.facebook.com/sarafosterauthor
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HAPPY FOURTH BOOK, Sara.
Now, did you know…?
My fourth novel opens with a character writing a letter, which is what prompted this blog series. And not just any letter. It’s a story –perhaps the most important he’ll ever tell.
The Other Side of the Season
Everything has a reflection…
And there’s another side to every story.
Life is simple on top of the mountain for David, Matthew and Tilly until the winter of 1979 when tragedy strikes, starting a chain reaction that will ruin lives for years to come. Those who can, escape the Greenhill banana plantation on the outskirts of Coffs Harbour. One stays—trapped for the next thirty years on the mountain and haunted by memories and lost dreams. That is until the arrival of a curious young woman, named Sidney, whose love of family shows everyone the truth can heal, what’s wrong can be righted, the lost can be found, and…
. . . there’s another side to every story.
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