Announcing: Petunia The Perfectionist

Exciting news! My upcoming and 3rd children’s book, which is titled Petunia The Perfectionist, is currently in the illustration stage. Wait until you see how gorgeously my illustrator, Ellie Beykzadeh, is bringing Petunia and her world to life. Every illustration she sends over truly blows me away. I’ll be sharing updates about Petunia here, as well as on my social media channels @MarissaBaderWriter — I hope you’ll follow along!

In the meantime, I wanted to share the “origin story” behind Petunia, as well as some sweet easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book.

Some of you may remember that on the day my last book, Stella’s Brave Voice, went live, it was initially published with an error. I was MORTIFIED and devastated. I was worried that one little mistake would make me seem like an illegitimate author who puts out shoddy work. But so many people reached out to tell me that it was OK, and that everybody makes mistakes. One friend even said, “maybe this could be the inspiration behind your next book?”

And so it was!

Additionally, I’ve struggled with perfectionism my entire life. I was the girl who would study for weeks upon weeks to ensure I wouldn’t get even one wrong answer on a test, and would only raise my hand to speak in class if I knew for sure what I was going to share was absolutely, unequivocally correct. The thing that’s helped quell my perfectionist tendencies more than anything? Motherhood. Try as I might (and believe me, I TRIED) it’s impossible to do motherhood perfectly. As much as I attempted to keep everyone on a schedule, maintain a meticulous house, and be prepared for any challenge that may come our way… I simply couldn’t. Not only that, but trying to do so made me (and everyone around me) crazy. So while this perfectionism is deeply ingrained within me, every single day I remind myself that it’s OK to make mistakes, it’s OK to be imperfect, and it’s OK to simply go with the flow (which isn’t so “simple” for me…). I’m working on it.

And now for some facts — “easter eggs,” if you will — about my upcoming book; when Petunia The Perfectionist is released, it’ll be fun to keep these in mind as you read:

• Petunia is a nod to my oldest, Harper; my brother, Danny, has called her Petunia forever!
• Petunia’s brother, Bruce, is a nod to that same brother; Harper calls him Bruce!
• Bruce is also a nod to Harper’s 1st grade teacher Ms. Bruce, who taught her that every time she makes a mistake her brain grows.
• The guitar is a nod to my late father, Henry Kristal. He didn’t play the guitar, but he taught me that if our strings are pulled too tight, we can’t make beautiful music with our lives.
• You’ll notice a doggy sidekick on each page Petunia is at home; while we don’t have a dog, my girls and I are obsessed with them, and wish we had one (and if it weren’t for those pesky allergies, we would!)

Stay tuned for more updates. I can’t wait to share Petunia The Perfectionist with you!